OCALA, Fla. — The Business Manager of a Central Florida alternative school turned herself in to jail Tuesday after investigators say she admitted to a years-long fraud scheme to pay herself hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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The investigation began on April 24 when the Executive Director of Silver River Mentoring and Instruction (SRMI) reported the alleged fraud to the Ocala Police Department.
SRMI serves students in Marion and Citrus Counties who have had problems in public school settings.
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The Executive Director told police the organization’s Business Manager, 41-year-old Danielle Liles, admitted that she had been stealing money from them for years.
According to police, Liles made the admission because of an upcoming audit of the organization’s finances.
The Executive Director told police Liles went to SRMI’s Citrus County location on April 21 to begin the audit and admitted during the meeting to giving herself extra paychecks dating back to 2016.
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According to the police department, Liles said she stole from the organization because she “became addicted to it.”
Investigators say they reviewed SRMI’s accounts to verify Liles’ claims and found even more fraudulent checks she didn’t report herself.
In all, they found Liles had written 137 fraudulent checks to herself since 2016 totaling more than $766,000.
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According to police, the fraudulent payments were either checks she received outside of her normal pay schedule, or money added to her actual wage for a given pay period.
Liles turned herself in to the Marion County jail Tuesday and was charged with one count of organized fraud. She’s being held there on $25,000 bond.
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