The treasurer of the Central Denison Elementary School parent-teacher organization pleaded not guilty to charges that stem from allegedly bilking more than $8,500 from the group over two years.
Danielle L. Masoni, 37, of Lake Geneva, pleaded not guilty July 10 to unauthorized use of an entity’s identifying information or documents and theft in a business setting of $5,000 to $10,000. She faces up to six years in prison and $10,000 in fines on each charge. A status conference was scheduled for Sept. 14 in her case.
According to the criminal complaint, on March 9, Central Denison PTO President Heather Torgerson reported discrepancies in the group’s finances and said the board obtained information showing Masoni stole funds from the group between 2016 and 2018.
Torgerson said the board learned at a meeting in January that Masoni’s Amazon account was linked to the PTO’s account, and Torgerson began checking on the group’s finances and called an emergency meeting, according to the complaint. The board went over bank statements going back to 2016 and found $8,609 worth of money was missing. The first unauthorized withdrawal came on May 13, 2016, and the last one occurred Feb. 26 for a total of $2,420, according to the complaint.
Masoni also made numerous Amazon purchases from the PTO’s account beginning in June 2016 and ending in March. The unauthorized purchases totaled $5,124, according to the complaint.
The PTO board also found Masoni made deposits that didn’t match bank records. In October, she recorded a deposit of $1,265, but only $1,165 was deposited into the bank. And in November, she recorded a deposit of $3,245, but only $2,300 actually was deposited, according to the complaint.
