A Pima County grand jury has indicted a former account manager in connection with the theft of about $12,300 in cash from parents and students at the Pima Joint Technical Education District.
Tyler Jeffrey Buntrock is accused of receiving money from JTED parents and students, recording the money in the districtβs accounting system and depositing that money at the bank, a news release from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said.
Buntrock faces six felony counts alleging violation of duties of a custodian of public monies β one count for every month he worked for JTED.
The Arizona Auditor Generalβs Office first published an investigation into Buntrockβs money management practices in March.
The office found that Buntrock had stolen nearly half of the cash payments he collected between March 2016 and August 2016, the Star reported.
Buntrock took progressively larger percentages of the payments for himself over the six months he worked at JTED. He tried to cover his tracks by forging at least one cash deposit form and by omitting and falsifying receipts in JTEDβs accounting software, the auditor general found.
JTED did not independently review Buntrockβs deposits, the auditor general found. The district discovered he had been stealing money while he was on leave in August 2016, after another employee reviewed cash deposits.
JTED fired Buntrock and reported him to the Pima County Sheriffβs Department after realizing he had been stealing for months, JTED spokesman Greg DβAnna told the Star in March.
In response to the incident, JTED has adjusted the way it teaches employees about money management and how the district itself manages money.
βWe did retrain our finance staff and other employees and we have also greatly reduced our cash handling overall at the district,β DβAnna said. βWe practically do not accept cash anymore.β
JTED did not comment any further citing the pending investigation.
