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BY PATRICK GUINANE
pguinane@nwitimes.com
317.637.9078 | Tuesday, September 30, 2008 | (5 comment(s))
INDIANAPOLIS | When state auditors visited West Side Junior High in East Chicago in January, they initially found an inventory of 70 gym uniforms.
A return visit uncovered another 200 uniforms, a brown bag with $750 cash in a box of uniforms and another $1,618 in uniform fees sitting in a bank bag in a file cabinet, a State Board of Accounts audit indicates.
The auditors compared the loose cash and inventory with bank deposits and uniform orders for the past two school years and came up $5,010.75 short. Now, extracurricular treasurer Petrita DeLeon is on the hook for the missing cash.
The audit, published earlier this year, also hits DeLeon for another $283 in missing textbook and athletic fees. She denied wrongdoing in a March 7 letter her attorney sent to state auditors.
"This correspondence shall confirm that Ms. DeLeon maintains her innocence of any allegation of unaccounted for collections and declines to speak to the Indiana State Board of Accounts any further," wrote J. Justin Murphy, a Hammond attorney. "Naturally, I am requesting that you cease all communications with my client and that you direct all further communications in regard to this matter to my attention."
It's not clear whether DeLeon still works for the School City of East Chicago. Superintendent Juan Anaya did not return a call seeking comment Monday.
No criminal charges have been filed against DeLeon, a spokeswoman for Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said Monday. And the state has not sent DeLeon a repayment demand because the audit was not forwarded to the Indiana attorney general's office, a spokeswoman said.
The gym uniforms sold for $18 or $20, depending on size.
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Hmmmm wrote on Oct 1, 2008 3:19 PM:
Rob XL wrote on Sep 30, 2008 4:56 PM:
Come on people, we all know what E.C. has become with all of it's phonies and cowards, if your not into politics and work with them, you are against them, and they are using Petrita as a fall guy/girl, this is sad they feel the need to go after the people who are actually doing their job and trying to improve E.C. instead of bring it down more, it's time for change in the city, and it starts at the top with the dirty politics. This is a JOKE and Petrita will have her name clear of this mess soon and we will see who the real criminals are. "
JDub wrote on Sep 30, 2008 1:32 PM:
Hey Harbor Kid wrote on Sep 30, 2008 10:58 AM:
Harbor Kid wrote on Sep 30, 2008 9:00 AM: