A woman who worked as treasurer for the Calvin U. Smith Parent-Teacher Association and Corning-Painted Post CSEA Union 8710 was arrested and charged for allegedly stealing more than $45,000 in funds.
The suspect, 35-year-old Kari A. Warner of Painted Post has been charged with third-degree grand larceny, a class-D felony. State Police based in the area received a larceny complaint from the Calvin U. Smith Parent-Teacher Association, which urged them to start an investigation.
Parent-Teacher Association's Funds
Law enforcement officials noted that the investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds from the Corning-Painted Post Parent-Teacher Association and the Civil Service Employees Association Local Union continues.
The suspect has been transported to the Steuben County Jail centralized arraignment court for arraignment and has been released on her own recognizance. She will soon appear in Erwin Town Court at a later date to face the charges against her supposed crimes, according to The Leader.
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Warner allegedly stole funds from the two organizations from August 2024 to January 2025. The case against the suspect is still ongoing, and officials plan to share more information about it.
There was a similar case where a former PTA president at an Astoria elementary school was accused of stealing more than $41,000 from the organization. The suspect allegedly did this so that she could pay for personal trips and make purchases at wine stores, smoke shops, and nail salons.
Using the Money for Personal Use
The woman, 33-year-old Athena Gonzalez of Greenvale, LI, was identified in the Astoria Post. She was arraigned in October last year in Queens Criminal Court on charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
The charges showed that Gonzalez was elected president of the parent-teacher association of P.S. 166, located at 33-09 35th Ave.. in Astoria, in July 2023. Officials said that on or about Dec. 11, 2023, a check for $1,564.87 was drawn from the association's bank account at Connect One Bank.
The money that was taken was then deposited into the suspect's personal bank account. Additionally, between Apr. 2, 2024, and July 6, 2024, there were six more checks, which had amounts ranging between $3,500 and $10,000, that were deposited into the suspect's Discover bank account.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz argued that Gonzalez used the money she stole from the parent-teacher association to fund personal trips to Six Flags Great Adventure and Kalahari Resorts, as per the New York Post.
