Wasilla resident Gayle White, 44, was summoned to court to answer charges of first-degree theft, scheme to defraud and falsifying business records. White, a former student activities secretary at East High School, is accused of embezzling $100,499.85 from 2006 through 2009 by failing to deposit collected funds from students into their proper accounts.
The new charges against White come after she was fired by the Anchorage School District in April 2011, in a sweep of four district employees Superintendent Carol Comeau described as responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in theft. At the time, Comeau said White had been charged with theft and falsifying business records for stealing an estimated $5,000 a school year at Chugiak High School since the beginning of 2009.
In November 2011, police arrested former Chugiak High supply clerk Brenda Burge, who used to work with White, for allegedly embezzling nearly $75,000 which she was responsible for transporting from the school to ASD’s accounting office.
Both Burge and White, who was an employee at Chugiak at the time, fell under the suspicion of then-principal Rick Volk. Burge told police White wasn’t involved in her scheme -- a claim APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker dismissed out of hand when asked about White, who made a plea deal with prosecutors in the case last year.
“That was a lie,” Parker said.
White’s attorney, Pam Dale, refused an Associated Press request for comment Wednesday.
In a separate incident, police also announced an arrest warrant Wednesday against 34-year-old Donna Jameson of Anchorage, on charges including 25 counts of fraudulent use of an access device, first-degree theft and second-degree forgery.
Investigators believe Jameson took more than $40,000 from Hugh and Louise Smith while working as a caretaker for them, by stealing and cashing checks from their bank account.
Jameson’s bail has been set at $15,000.
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