By Gil Smart
Lancaster Online
July 3, 2008
Gil Smart
The principal sat down and looked at the books. And what he saw confused him.
During fiscal year 2007-2008, St. Anne and St. Leo Catholic schools in Lancaster should have taken in $434,093 in tuition payments. But the Harrisburg Diocese was reporting that it only received $357,679.
What happened to the other $76,314?
The principal, Dr. Christopher Kennedy of St. Anne, went to his secretaries. They were the ones responsible for forwarding the tuition payments. Maybe one of them knew something about the discrepancy?
A short time later, one of the secretaries approached him. Yes, she knew what happened to the money.
She took it.
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| Michelle A. Hildebrand |
And last week, Lancaster city police filed two felony charges against the Lancaster woman, Michelle A. Hildebrand, saying that she went so far as to "fraudulently" open a savings account under the school name, from which she took money — according to the police affidavit, "to pay for her husband's medical bills and her son's drug addiction."
The allegations are detailed in the affidavit, filed Wednesday by city detective Toby C. Hickey. Calls to Hickey were not returned by press time.
Hildebrand turned herself in to police Thursday, according to a late afternoon press release, and released on $100,000 unsecured bail. Her attorney is Robert Going Jr. of Lancaster; a message was left at his office late Thursday, but the office had closed for the holiday.
A message left at Hildebrand's home Thursday also was not returned.
Hickey charged the 45-year-old Manheim Township resident with one count of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and one count of theft by unlawful taking or disposition. The charges were filed in the office of Magisterial District Judge Janice Jiminez.
Kennedy told the Sunday News last month the school had "terminated the employment" of a staffer he would not name, presumably Hildebrand, after he discovered the funds were missing.
A voice message and e-mail to Kennedy's office were not returned Thursday.
Kennedy told parents in an e-mail following initial reports of the missing money that rumors the school would have to close because of the stolen money were not true. "Yes, we had some money stolen; however, I expect the majority of that money will be paid back, with any remaining funds recovered through our insurance," he wrote.
According to the affidavit, Hildebrand opened a Bank of Lancaster County account in the name of the St. Anne School Parent-Teacher Organization in 2004, with bank statements being sent to her home address. The account was opened without the permission, consent or knowledge of St. Anne officials, Hickey wrote.
Hildebrand then desposited tuition payments from St. Anne and St. Leo's schools into the account, according to the criminal complaint.
Police served a warrant on Bank of Lancaster County, obtaining records showing that a total of $154,814.89 was deposited in the account between 2004 and June 27, 2008.
"This caused a total loss of $154,814.89," Hickey wrote in the affidvavit, even though Hildebrand is charged with taking $76,314 — all of it during the 2007-2008 school year, according to the criminal complaint.
According to judicial records, Hildebrand pleaded guilty to writing bad checks at a Weis Market in 2000. She is still listed on the St. Anne Web site as office manager.
St. Anne School has two parent churches: St. John Neumann in Manheim Township and the adjoining St. Anne Catholic Church. It serves students in grades pre-kindergarten to eight.
Gil Smart is associate editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at gsmart@lnpnews.com, or phone 291-8817.
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