Police Investigate Possible Embezzlement At Wake County High School

The Garner Police Department said it is looking into a possible embezzlement scam involving someone who works in the Garner Senior High School cafeteria and the school's child nutrition program. Sources said at least $100,000 is in question.

"They were doing their usual audit and they reported that information when the figures didn't come up right to the school resource officer," said Sgt. Joe Binns of the Garner Police Department.

Wake County school officials would not say much about the matter right now except that the district is doing an internal audit and will hand over the results to the Garner Police Department.

"Right now, we're investigating a confidential employee issue where we have some concerns, and it's an ongoing investigation," said Michael Evans, a spokesman for the Wake County School System. "At this juncture, it's a little premature to know which way it's going to go."

The suspected fraud case comes on the heels of an ongoing investigation into the school district's transportation department.

The school system believes former employees siphoned millions of dollars over several years with a parts scam that they used to order personal purchases, including vacation homes, a new truck and jet skis.

School officials said the Garner Senior High School investigation is a result of new policies that have been implemented since the transportation scandal, as well as extra auditors that were hired.

"We've taken extreme steps internally to tighten up our financial controls to bring in extra auditors, to go and look for things to make sure we are following policy," Evans said. "And when you go look for things, you'll see some inconsistencies and that's what we're examining now," Evans said.

Garner investigators said it could be at least a week before detectives determine whether criminal charges will be filed in this case.