A former Bruton High School bookkeeper has been indicted on 24 felony charges, including embezzlement and forgery, after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the high school.
Nine months after prosecutors dropped six charges against Charlene Flood-Liggon, authorities have brought them back — and more.
Investigators believe Flood-Liggon, 55, of Newport News, opened an unauthorized corporate credit account in Bruton High School’s name and made purchases with it over a span of about four and a half years.
Flood-Liggon handled cash and checks from “every aspect” of the school, including athletics, arts, field trips and more, according to court documents.
York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office Capt. Troy Lyons said cash belonging to the school was also unaccounted for.
A preliminary investigation tied Flood-Liggon to about $4,731.56 in purchases on an Amazon Corporate Credit account, but further investigation since February revealed additional losses, Lyons said.
He declined to specify the amount of the losses.
“When we first got involved in this investigation, the intial charges were based off of limited information,” Lyons said.
Lyons said prosecutors had questions about the initial audit the York County School Division had performed, which revealed money was missing.
The original charges against Flood-Liggon were nolle prossed in February in the York-Poquoson General District Court, according to court records. When charges are nolle prossed, prosecutors agree to drop them unless new evidence comes to light.
After the charges were dropped, investigators hired a forensic accountant from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) to look deeper into the case, Lyons said.
According to the criminal complaint, Bruton High School’s principal, Arletha Dockery, started to become suspicious of Flood-Liggon in mid-2016 when she noticed several years’ worth of cash deposits missing from the high school’s bank account.
The School Board terminated her employment when the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office opened the investigation, according to court documents.
The forensic accountant found other losses that had not previously been connected to Flood-Liggon.
According to sheriff’s office spokeswoman Shelley Ward, Flood-Liggon was indicted Nov. 21 and turned herself in to the Newport News City Jail on Dec. 11.
