INDIANAPOLIS | A former Hammond elementary school bookkeeper blamed for $7,300 in missing money two years ago now is on the hook for another $10,800 in absent cash.

State auditors say a 2006 candy sale fundraiser at Irving Elementary School should have netted nearly $20,000, but only $11,600 made it to the bank. The state is holding former extracurricular treasurer Tina R. Orzel responsible for the difference.

The State Board of Accounts review, released last week, also demands Orzel repay $2,525 she received from nine checks she wrote herself to cover purported expenses that weren't backed up by receipts or invoices.

Coupled with the missing candy profits, Orzel's new tab comes to $10,853. She already had cost the School City of Hammond $7,336, auditors have said.

A December 2006 audit found Orzel wrote herself unsubstantiated expense checks totaling $2,689. State auditors also blamed her for $4,647 in textbook rental fees that were not deposited.

Jenny Scheuer, a spokeswoman for Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter, said an insurance claim allowed Hammond schools to recoup the $7,336 tied to the earlier audit. Scheuer said the attorney general's office sent Orzel a letter last week demanding repayment of the $10,853.

In a letter to state auditors, Orzel said she was fired in April 2006 and should not be held responsible for the candy sale profits, some of which were not deposited until June 2006.

"I have no account for that money as I was not employed by the School City of Hammond at the completion of the fundraiser," Orzel wrote. "I did not collect all monies nor did I have access to them after my dismissal."