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Hyder Elementary School District—Criminal Indictment—Theft, Misuse of Public Monies, Fraudulent Schemes, and Forgery

Report

As part of their responsibility to prevent and detect fraud, Hyder Elementary School District (District) officials took appropriate action by reporting to us alleged financial misconduct by former office specialist Kalena Renaudin. Our investigation revealed that from April 2016 through March 2018, Ms. Renaudin may have embezzled $7,417 from the District’s Medical Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA) plan checking account when she admittedly “borrowed” the monies by issuing 16 unauthorized checks to herself for her own personal purposes. Additionally, Ms. Renaudin may have concealed her actions by not following District procedures. In particular, she failed to perform FSA checking account reconciliations and provide them to the business manager for his independent review. She also failed to obtain a second signature on 9 of the 16 unauthorized checks. We have submitted our report to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which on April 10, 2023, presented evidence to the State Grand Jury. The action resulted in Ms. Renaudin’s indictment on 6 felony counts related to theft, misuse of public monies, fraudulent schemes, and forgery.