PHOENIX - A Scottsdale schools employee arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than $300,000 of school funds had racked up hundreds of thousand of dollars in gambling debts at local casinos, authorities said.
Scottsdale detectives discovered "evidence of a destructive gambling habit" in the bank records of Janet Winkler Rice, said Sgt. Mark Clark, a police spokesman.
Rice, 59, was arrested Friday after a search warrant turned up documents showing evidence of the crime, police said.
Rice was booked on suspicion of felony embezzlement and released on her own recognizance.
Police investigators who examined district bank accounts say that Rice had embezzled about $306,000 since November 2005.
Rice's suspected embezzlement surfaced after Scottsdale Unified School District officials discovered that she had deposited an $18,000 check May 25 written from the school's trust account into her personal checking account, said Marijke Van Fleet, a district spokeswoman.
People are also reading…
Rice, who had worked in the district's risk management office for more than three years, is accused of forging the names of officials authorized to sign checks and then depositing the money into her bank.
Vacant Tucson stores could transform into new housing
