Two former St. Mary Parish School Board employees have now been arrested, accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the school system.
On Tuesday, the former bookkeeper at Patterson High School was arrested and accused of stealing more than $205,000 from the school, St. Mary Parish Sheriff's deputies say.
Deputies say Lisa Ann Crochet Powell, 65, of Morgan City, was booked with false accounting, felony theft exceeding $25,000 and malfeasance in office.
The investigation began back in August, when a complaint was made regarding a "significant discrepancy" in the school's financial records. The discrepancies spanned four years - from 2020 to 2024. Powell was bookkeeper at the time, deputies say.
Deputies say Powell was solely responsible for handling receipts for funds collected, and for making deposits into the school's account.
Last week, deputies arrested Dinah Dru Richard, 29, of Patterson, and booked her with forgery, felony theft in excess of $5,000 and malfeasance in office.
Her arrest followed an investigation that began on December 11 when a complaint was made from the school board's central office in Centerville.
In that case, an administrator had found that a store charge card and a credit card had been used to make personal purchases for a school board employee, and detectives found evidence that forgery was used to accomplish the purchases.
