Cops: Greenacres official stole Boca High’s money

A Greenacres City Council member has been arrested on charges she stole thousands of dollars from Boca Raton High when she worked at the school as treasurer, authorities say.

Lisa Rivera, 47, was taken into custody Monday on charges of grand theft, official misconduct and organized scheme to defraud, according to a report from Palm Beach County School District police.

The alleged theft happened between 2013 and 2015.

School District Auditor Alonzo Peterson conducted an audit at the school inAugust 2015 that examined bank deposits prepared and submitted by Rivera as treasurer, according to the police report.

Peterson noticed a discrepancy involving checks that were not logged in a document known as the “Monies Collected Report,” the report states.

Peterson said a deposit appeared to be short $654 in cash fromthemoney-collection report, police said.

The school district police report describes how an investigation ensued that involved scrutinizing more than100 checks.

It showed “an ongoing course of conduct” of stealing cash from checks that were unaccounted for, the report said. For instance, if six checks each in the amount of $100 were listed on the deposit summary prepared by Rivera, she only submitted five checks in the amount of $100 for the deposit, leaving one check unaccounted for, the report said.

“Thisinvestigation determined additional checks received were not properly documented and subsequently [were] used to replace cash stolen from certain deposits,” the report said.

On Oct. 2, 2015, a former worker with the school district’s Inspector General’s Office went to conduct an unscheduled count of money in a safe at the school, the police report said.

Shredded collectedmoney reports were found in the trash in Rivera’s office, the report said.

Three days later, Rivera notified Principal GeoffMcKee in an email that shewas resigning, the report states.

Jail records show Rivera was freed jailMonday afternoon. She could not be reached for comment Tuesday despite calls to her listed number.