HARRISBURG, Pa. – A Harrisburg School District employee is facing multiple charges after allegedly stealing almost $180,000 from the district by creating fraudulent invoices and creating fraudulent overcharges from the transportation company the district used.
Dana L. Andrews, 38, of Steelton, is facing one count of theft by deception, 44 counts of forgery, 67 counts of unlawful use of a computer and six counts of access device fraud in relation to the thefts, which occurred over a one-year period from May of 2016 to November of 2017, according to Harrisburg police.
Andrews was the school district’s Supervisor of Transportation during the alleged thefts, police say. She was in that role from January 2014 until her resignation on Nov. 8, 2017, when the theft allegations came to light to Harrisburg School District management, according to police.
She had initially been hired as a district secretary in 2009, according to Curtis Tribue, the district’s HR director.
A search of Andrews’s criminal background revealed she has faced theft and passing bad check charges years ago, but in spite of those potential red flags, Andrews had been able to pass the district’s background check.
“We had conducted a background check, as we do on all new hire employees, and given that she had been with the district for some time, there wasn’t any additional information that led us to think that there was a concern at that point,” Tribue said.
During her tenure, Andrews was the contact person between Harrisburg School District and its transportation provider, BOYO Transportation, police say.
“It’s always a shock to any organization,” Tribue said. “One of the things is you have to trust someone, but things do occur and when we’re made aware of things that are improper, we try to address them as swiftly as possible.”
According to police, Andrews created fraudulent invoices from BOYO and submitted them to the school district for payment. The district would pay the invoices, and Andrews would keep the checks. BOYO did not know that the checks were issued, police say.
Police say Andrews also altered BOYO Transportation invoices sent to the district, creating overcharges. Once the district made payment, police say, Andrews would request BOYO to write a refund check to cover the overpayment. When BOYO complied, Andrews would keep and cash the checks without the school district’s knowledge, police say.
Both the school district and BOYO were unaware of the fraudulent checks or invoices prior to the investigation, according to police.
The police investigation revealed that Andrews made six ATM deposits and 67 mobile application deposits, added her name to 17 checks made payable to the Harrisburg School District and forged 27 checks using the BOYO Transportation manager’s signature, police say.
“With new ways of banking, these organizations were vulnerable to different types of fraud and deception,” Tribue said.
Andrews cooperated with the investigation, according to police. The total amount of money taken was $179,313.12.
Andrews posted $25,000 bail and faces a preliminary hearing on March 5.
