Students at Imperial Beach Charter School missed out on field trips last year because a former member of the Parent Teacher’s Association allegedly embezzled as much as $40,000 meant for children, according to current PTA leadership and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
An investigation into the alleged embezzlement is underway, the sheriff’s department confirmed Thursday.
The current president and current treasurer of the Imperial Beach Charter School PTA estimate the former PTA president took between $25,000 and $40,000. No one knows exactly how much money is missing.
Amber Vissuet and Elizabeth McKay, the current president and treasurer of the Imperial Beach Charter School's PTA said during an 18-month period the organization's former president allegedly lied about the group's finances, emptied out its bank account, collected money from members for bills but failed to pay invoices, and spent the PTA's money on personal items and on family trips.
The I.B. Charter School PTA’s current treasurer said the real victims are the children, who missed out on field trips and back-to-school events typically funded by the PTA.
“I think that was the saddest part because the suspect had two children who went to school there,” said McKay.
A former Coronado police detective, McKay spent months analyzing bank statements and financial records.
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“It’s a hard lesson to share with your kids that adults you trust and you think are good people are capable of doing something like this,” McKay said
McKay became aware of some discord in the PTA at the very first meeting she attended as a member.
At that March meeting, people were asking the PTA president some very pointed questions about the group’s lack of funds, and the president’s answers were – to the 19-year veteran detective – “not making sense.”
“She was saying things like ‘I kept the money in bags in my closet,” McKay said. “Okay, well, do we need to go over to your house and get the bags of money out of your closet then?”
McKay later went with the current president Amber Visseut to the bank where the PTA kept its account and began looking over bank statements.
She matched cash ATM withdrawals made near Disneyland with times and dates the former president posted to her Facebook page she was at the amusement park with her family.
“I spent over 60 hours and put together a three-ring binder,” McKay said. McKay handed her findings over to the financial crimes unit of the sheriff’s department.
The former PTA president has not yet been charged with a crime so NBC 7 is not using her name. She did not answer an attempt to contact her.
The group is now asking the community for help with fundraising.
Some parents have been wary about getting involved and donating, given that so much money was lost before.
The leaders are stressing the loss of funds was solely the responsibility of one person, something the sheriff’s department said they cannot yet confirm at this stage in the investigation.
McKay wants justice for the children and to see the former PTA president held accountable for her actions, something she thinks may be unlikely to happen.
“It’s frustrating because I get [the authorities are] used to dealing with crimes of embezzlement of $100,000 to millions of dollars, and I understand that it’s not the crime of the century to them, but to us, it is,” she said.
