It was the lead story on the Philadelphia TV news programs. It was on KYW Newsradio every 20 minutes. It seems everyone is talking about former Kennett Township manager Lisa Moore and how she managed to embezzle $3.2 million of taxpayers' money from under the noses of the township supervisors over a six-year period. And that was on top of her six-figure yearly salary!
The investigation has been going on since April, but Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan and the Kennett Township supervisors just released the full story this past week. Money earmarked for employee benefits, the police department, land preservation and other township services was diverted to "extravagant personal expenses such as clothes from Gucci and Chanel, jewelry, and travel" to places like Italy, Las Vegas and France," according to Hogan's press release. "Part of her scheme even involved pretending to be married" so that the fraudulent spouse could obtain medical benefits.
I'm the treasurer for a nonprofit organization, and early in my tenure I attended a county seminar about preventing and spotting fraud. The major "tell," they explained to us, was someone who was living beyond his or her means. In our wealthy community, though, that's not always easy to spot.
A friend asked if I was going to write anything in this column about the sad situation, and I said I didn't think I had a lot to add. I liked what he said, though: he wonders if someone in Hollywood has gotten wind of this story and is bidding for the movie rights. There are certainly several juicy roles!
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