PERRYSBURG – A Perrysburg woman has been charged with embezzling more than $95,500
from three separate organizations.
According to the Perrysburg Police Division, Kiki Lorann, 35, of W. Indiana Avenue
was charged with theft from Perrysburg Elementary Parents Association (PEPA),
Toth Parent Club and the Perrysburg Sting Travelling Baseball team.
She appeared in Perrysburg Municipal Court this morning and entered not guilty pleas
on all three counts.
The Perrysburg police were contacted by members of PEPA on May 17 concerning
discrepancies within their financial records. An investigation found there were
also discrepancies in the other two civic groups. Lorann was arrested Tuesday at
her home without incident.
Through the police investigation, they have found alleged losses totaling $95,587.61.
That figure includes $48,727.7 from PEPA; $43,792.67 from Toth; and $3,067.21
from the baseball team.
Deputy Chief Mike Gilmore said this morning the investigation against Lorann is
ongoing.
Lorann held various positions of leadership and financial responsibility with all
three organizations.
Bond in her case was set for $7,500. Bond was posted overnight. At her arraignment,
the bond was continued. She was also ordered to have no contact with any of the
three organizations and not to be on any elementary property of the Perrysburg
Schools.
Police had responded to Lorann’s residence May 21 after she had "apparently made
suicidal threats/comments to a friend," according to a report.
"Mrs. Lorann stated she had contemplated suicide because of recent contact with
the Perrysburg Police on Friday (May 18)," the report continued. "She
then stated that would not be a good solution to her recent troubles and was not
going to harm herself."
Lorann then went to Behavioral Connections to speak with a mental health evaluator,
and she was followed to the site by police.
District Treasurer and CFO Matt Feasel said this morning they will be making
suggestions to the groups on how to stop such incidents in the future.
"We’re somewhat limited in terms of the district, because those are outside
groups and we really do not have any control over those. They’re individuals
that have volunteered their time, doing fundraising activities to promote some
activities in the schools that the schools don’t normally pick up."
"We can’t dictate how they do things," Feasel said later. "We can make
suggestions and recommendations as far as how to prevent these kind of things
from happening."
Among the possible suggestions, he said, could be having two individuals count money
or sign checks, or filing monthly financial reports.
"There’s a whole list of things that they could have done," he said,
adding, however, that "I’m not going to second guess the groups,"
because of the difficulty in finding volunteers to handle that kind of work.
Feasel indicated that a group of accountants that he and Superintendent Tom Hosler
met with earlier in the year may be brought in to help.
"We have contacted that group, so perhaps they could offer their service to
those outside groups to perhaps audit their books on an annual basis.
This is not Lorann’s first brush with the courts as she has had previous financial
cases, but charges in other cases were dismissed and she has not been previously
convicted of any criminal charges.
A tentative appearance with her attorney was set for 9:30 a.m. Friday with a
preliminary hearing set for June 12. The next session of the Wood County Grand
Jury will meet June 6, and there is a possibility her case could be submitted to
that panel.