FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A former Kentucky school finance director accused of stealing more than $1.6 million from a district over nearly a decade has pleaded guilty to federal charges, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Lesley Wade pleaded guilty to concealing money laundering and filing a fraudulent tax return, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Kentucky announced in a statement Tuesday.
She was accused of diverting funds from Franklin County Schools to herself through checks, as well as channeling money from the school district into accounts at a Frankfort church where she was a treasurer to make the checks “appear legitimate,” the statement said.
Wade also falsified records and invoices to hide the activity and filed incorrect tax returns in which she failed to claim the money as income, according to her plea agreement.
She resigned last summer amid an FBI investigation into the allegations, Superintendent Mark Kopp has said.
When sentenced in September, Wade could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 on the money laundering charge and up to three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on the tax charge.
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