Former school bookkeeper indicted on charge of theft over $10,000

JACKSON, Tenn. — A former school employee is facing a theft charge after allegedly stealing from fundraisers.

After a joint investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office and the Jackson Police Department, former West Bemis Middle School bookkeeper Judy Hale was indicted on a charge of theft over $10,000.

Investigators say they determined that Hale stole over $15,000 from the school between July and October of last year, saying a lot of the money she used was for personal benefit.

That’s thousands of dollars from school fundraisers. It was determined she also used the school credit card to make personal purchases.

“She used the credit card to buy things like pet food and hair dye, grocery items, fuel, tires for her vehicle — all things she bought for herself and not benefit the school in any way,” said John Dunn, public information officer for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.

Hale retired from the school system in October of 2017 after being suspended by the district. Hale was indicted in October.

“It’s always a good idea to have more than one person who takes money in and records it in the accounting statements and prepares deposits, because if you have more than one person it helps limit the chances of fraud,” Dunn said.

It was also determined another $6,475 disappeared, and it is unknown where that money has gone or for what it was used.

The school district released this statement Tuesday afternoon, saying the district’s fiscal services team initially found the discrepancies:

“The Jackson-Madison County School System is grateful for the hard work of the Jackson
Police Department and the state Comptroller’s office in this case. A member of the district’s
Fiscal Services team initially caught the financial discrepancy, which led to the investigation
and indictment of the former bookkeeper at West Bemis Middle School. A more stringent
system of checks and balances at the school-level were immediately put into place to
prevent any future incidents of this kind.”