Thomas Jefferson H.S. Employee Arrested on Embezzlement Charges Finance Technician Allegedly Stole $279,000 from High School to Fund Gambling and Credit Card Debt

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Susan Thanh Litwin, 37, of Woodbridge, Va., was arrested today on allegations that she stole approximately $279,000 from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHS), a Fairfax County magnet school.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; and Colonel David Rohrer, Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after the charging documents were unsealed. Litwin is expected to make her initial appearance in federal court this afternoon.

Theses are difficult financial times for many public institutions, and an employee who breaks that trust needs to be held accountable, said U.S. Attorney MacBride. Were grateful for the help Fairfax County Police Department and the Fairfax County Public Schools provided to this investigation, along with the FBI agents who helped put together the evidence in this case.

According to a court-filed affidavit, Litwin served as a finance technician for TJHS since January 2007 and was responsible for receiving and depositing funds from various sources. These funds were used, in part, to support student athletics, classes, clubs, and other school activities. Litwin allegedly used the signature authority TJHS had given her to steal funds by writing checks to herself without authorization and by making counter-withdrawals from various TJHS bank accounts and depositing the funds into her personal bank accounts. From about March 2008 through January 2010, court records allege that she stole more than $279,000 through checks or withdrawals ranging from $2,500 to $35,000.

Court records indicate that in an interview, Litwin allegedly told law enforcement that the money was used to support a gambling habit that included trips to Las Vegas, Nev., and Atlantic City, N.J. She also allegedly stated that the theft was a result of extensive credit card debt and large mortgage payments on her home.

Authorities request that anyone with information regarding this case or similar allegations of fraud or corruption to call the FBIs Northern Virginia Public Corruption and Government Fraud Tip Line at (703) 686-6225 or send an email to: nova.corruption@ic.fbi.gov mailto:nova.corruption@ic.fbi.gov.

This case is being investigated by the FBIs Washington Field Office and the Fairfax County Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Mark D. Lytle is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Wow, $279,000 embezzled from student funds. That tops Litsa's embezzlement from Navy Vale of $180,000.

I wonder if she will get the fine, sofa arrest for a year and pay back $25 a month.

heh. not so smart now, are we, nerds?

Can't blame the TJ students for this. They did not do the hiring or supervising of this employee. But it was expected that some insecure person would make a comment like that.

Quote

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Susan Thanh Litwin, 37, of Woodbridge, Va., was arrested today on allegations that she stole approximately $279,000 from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHS), a Fairfax County magnet school.

Litsa changed her name? ;)

i dont get why these people steal the money. it's seriously stupid and with that amount of money being taken, there is no way you wont be caught.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

One of the things these dumbasses sometimes believe is that they'll win big in Vegas and then be able to escape the hole they dug themselves into by repaying the school. But like Pacino says in Casino, "In the end, we get it all."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2010 12:51PM by Eastsider.

Why don't they go after Amanda Perry for the salary she stole while on PAID administrative leave?

Why don't they go after Amanda Perry for the million they had to pay for her killing?

Time for Rohrer and his gang of killers to go.

Eastsider, it was DeNiro, not Pacino.

Know Your Actors Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Eastsider, it was DeNiro, not Pacino.


Shit. My bad.

LULZ TIME 2 RAISE PROPERTY TAXES AND PASS BONDS FOR THE CHILDREN AGAIN THEIR SO LOW ON FUNDS WON"T SOMEONE PLZ THINK OF THE CHILDREN???

This is how her elaborate scheme worked. She wrote checks to herself. Thats it.
One of the checks was for $35,000.

Can you imagine someone has that kind of authority in Fairfax with no oversight?

You would think well she stole it using a dummy account or a fake company but no she just writes them to herself and no one catches on. Great use of the taxpayers money that the schools whine for year after year.

Heh. Sure, if you say so. But then again, what does that make you guys?

It's the same thing Litsa was doing. Nobody learned anything from her. Like I said before there should be a check and balance of funds donated to schools. The problem is nobody knows where donations go and how much except the person who receives the check.

Two signatures should be required for these checks. And perhaps the same person who takes in the money should not be the same person authorized to write the checks.

Litsa, indeed.

Letter to TJ Academic Booster members:

In light of the recent event at TJ’s finance office, I want to provide information to you about Academic Boosters' financial practices and safeguards. Because we are a separate non-profit organization from TJ, we manage our own funds from your donations, and we maintain our own bank account, not linked to TJ's bank accounts.

We have a lead treasurer, who is supported by three co-treasurers, to help process donations through personal checks and through PayPal. The lead treasurer maintains and reviews the finances at each of our monthly meetings. This includes reporting on the donations received from members, the funds provided to the teams, as well as any other transactions.

In addition, one of our Vice Presidents maintains our membership database which tracks donations, requests by the teams for funds, and the dates when they need to pay registration fees or other expenses, plus the dates when Academic Boosters voted to allocate money to the teams and the amount of money allocated. At our monthly meeting, the Vice President and Treasurer each provide a report, reconciling the data.

As Academic Boosters approves funds for a team, I notify the teacher sponsor and student leaders of that team of the amount of funding we approved at our meeting, the expected use of the funds, and when they should expect the funds to be deposited into their account.

Lurker. Wrote:
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> Wow, $279,000 embezzled from student funds. That
> tops Litsa's embezzlement from Navy Vale of
> $180,000.
>
> I wonder if she will get the fine, sofa arrest
> for a year and pay back $25 a month.


This isn't Fairfax County. These are Federal Prosecutors. This gal is fucked.

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http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/13-11.htm

two signatures Wrote:
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> Two signatures should be required for these
> checks. And perhaps the same person who takes in
> the money should not be the same person authorized
> to write the checks.
>
> Litsa, indeed.


I worked at a place where a guy was busted for embezzlement. He had talked the CEO into allowing him to use a rubber stamp of the CEO's signature to "speed things up." The CEO should have been fired, but wasn't.

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http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/13-11.htm

Can you imagine the comps she got in the casinos? If you gamble five hundred a day they give you free meals and a free room. Her amount of play must have rated a top of the line suite, airfare and free room service.

wasn't there another Vietnamese county employee who embezzled? What happened to her?






----------------------------------------------
> ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Susan Thanh Litwin, 37, of
> Woodbridge, Va., was arrested today on allegations
> that she stole approximately $279,000 from Thomasu
> Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
> (TJHS), a Fairfax County magnet school.
>
> Litsa changed her name? ;)
>
> i dont get why these people steal the money. it's
> seriously stupid and with that amount of money
> being taken, there is no way you wont be caught.

How can they not notice this much money is missing? My employer notices if a dime is out of petty cash....

Michael Cantrell was Litsa's Attorney. I guess he's the go to embezzlement guy. She will end up at home on her coach just like Litsa.

Tim45 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can you imagine the comps she got in the casinos?
> If you gamble five hundred a day they give you
> free meals and a free room. Her amount of play
> must have rated a top of the line suite, airfare
> and free room service.


Christ! For $5000 a day I hope they give you a personal prostitute along with a penthouse sweet.

Atty Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Michael Cantrell was Litsa's Attorney. I guess
> he's the go to embezzlement guy. She will end up
> at home on her coach just like Litsa.

+1

excuse me, but the kids at tj are NOT to be blamed for this. last time i checked they weren't the ones that hired employees. btw: what does their level if intelligence have to do with this lady's gambling problems???

tj FTW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> btw: what does
> their level if intelligence have to do with this
> lady's gambling problems???

well if they were smart enough, they would help her win at gambling so she wouldnt take their money. :P


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

From the Washington Post...


15 months for stealing $279K from Va. school

A former administrator at Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was sentenced Friday to 15 months in prison for stealing more than $279,000 from student activity accounts to support her gambling habit, federal prosecutors announced.

Susan Thanh Litwin, 37, of Woodbridge, served as a finance technician for TJHS from January 2007 to March 2, 2010, and received and deposited funds from accounts that helped support sports, clubs and other school activities.

In May, Litwin pleaded guilty to theft from an organization receiving public funds.

In her plea agreement, Litwin admitted writing checks to herself and making withdrawals from school funds that she then deposited into her personal bank accounts.

She gambled with the money, traveled to Las Vegas and Atlantic City and paid down credit card and mortgage debt, she told federal investigators.

It takes a school 3 years to figure this out? TJ obviously has too much money on their hands to not notice until 279k is gone.

Steve K Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It takes a school 3 years to figure this out? TJ
> obviously has too much money on their hands to not
> notice until 279k is gone.


I'd agree with you but our bathroom stalls are falling apart and our sinks still have separate hot and cold water faucets.

It's amazing how this sort of thing seems to happen on a not infrequent basis. I recall a number of years ago that the finance person at West Springfield and the Principal were embezzleing funds, an assistant principal was reviewing the finances and came across the discepancies and reported it.

The thing is, ultimately, the principal is responsble for everything that goes on in the school, so he/she should be fired, not transferred to the personnel office, but fired! The amount of money involved in any high school is substantial and it's just amazing that something like that can go on for such a long time before being discovered. It would seem to me that every school principal and staff would review the finances every month.

I'm pretty sure that if the TJ kis were allowed to monitor the finaces nothing like that would have gone on as long as it did. They would love to discover dirt on any administrator.

On another thought, I wonder what kind of job a person could ever get after this sort of conviction.

What gets me is that they never seem to have to pay the money back and very few get any jail time. Look at Litsa's case where she got house arrest and only had to pay something like $25 a month.

I say jail them an make them pay it back with interest.

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Susan Thanh Litwin, 37, of
> Woodbridge, Va., was arrested today on allegations
> that she stole approximately $279,000 from Thomas
> Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
> (TJHS), a Fairfax County magnet school.
>
> Litsa changed her name? ;)
>
> i dont get why these people steal the money. it's
> seriously stupid and with that amount of money
> being taken, there is no way you wont be caught.

she gets out in a few months will she get a promotion in fcps.