Ex-official charged in theft of funds

PHOENIXVILLE » Nearly 20 months after a forensic audit of Phoenixville Area School District finances was completed, the federal government has charged the former finance director with embezzling more than $90,000.

In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon by United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, one charge of embezzlement against Christopher Gehris, 46, of Phoenixville, was announced.

“Gehris misappropriated funds from (Phoenixville Area School District) bank accounts, directed unauthorized payments to himself, made false entries, and fabricated receipts, all in order to embezzle more than $90,000 in school funds earmarked for student sporting events, field trips, summer programs and other school events,” according to the release. “For the years during the charged conduct, the PASD received federal funds for school programming.”

The federal charges stem from the release of an April 2020 forensic investigation of district finances.

“The defendant allegedly stole nearly $100,000 from a public school district, money which was specifically allocated for student activities meant to enhance their educational experience,” Williams said in the release. “Criminals that embezzle public money from schools are ripping off hundreds of students while also ripping off all taxpayers who fund them.”

Gehris was finance director and business manager from 2013 to 2019. In September 2019, the school district announced that an internal audit had found “discrepancies” in the district books.

The financial discrepancy was first discovered Aug. 19, 2019, when an employee notified Superintendent Alan Fegley of concerns with one of the district’s “enterprise accounts,” according to information provided by the district in 2020.

That day, Fegley confirmed with Phoenixville Federal that Gehris and one other employee had made cash withdrawals. The

internal investigation began the next day, according to the district.

In that investigation, Gehris told Fegley he had instructed the employee to withdraw cash, and he had put it in a safe. But the cash was not found in the safe.

Gehris was then put on administrative leave with pay and access to systems was blocked while the investigation continued.

Three hours after being placed on administrative leave, Gehris tried to access a district account at BB&T Bank, and Fegley instructed them to lock all accounts, according to the district timeline.

The administration recommended the dismissal of Gehris in an executive session with the school board. He resigned on Sept. 4, 2019.

The district’s timeline also indicates that the police and Chester County District Attorney’s Office were informed of the problems in 2019, but recommended the district undertake the forensic audit first.

At the time, Fegley wrote that “the board of school directors and PASD Administration are committed to transparency and the efficient use of our financial resources. We will work diligently to keep the community informed as we complete this process. I thank you for your patience and continued support.

However, much patience has been required and, because the matter involved a criminal investigation, transparency has been in short supply — a complaint often raised in two years of subsequent school board meetings.

In April of 2020, the forensic audit of the district finances was finally completed. It was referred to the Phoenixville Police Department which meant that the audit’s contents could still not be released to the public.

The FBI became involved because some of the funds Gehris is accused of embezzling came from federal funding sources.

“The FBI is committed to bringing justice to those, like Gehris, who dare to steal from programs funded with tax payer dollars,” Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, said in the release from the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

“In exploiting the trust the Phoenixville Area School District placed in him, Gehris stole from children and deprived them of meaningful educational experiences,” Maguire said. “The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect government-funded programs and investigate those who engage in similar greed-based schemes.”

If convicted, Gehris faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Phoenixville Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Terri A. Marinari and the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.

In August, the Pennsylvania Auditor General’s Office released a separate audit of school district finances from 2015 to 2019, a period when Gehris was finance director. It found poor accounting and financial controls during that period cost Phoenixville Area School District taxpayers nearly $90,000 and made about $4.6 million difficult and sometimes impossible to audit.

The findings in the report by Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor put the district “at increased risk for fraud.”

Auditor General’s Office spokesman Spokesman Gary Miller said although the audit was not initiated by the criminal investigation, the audit findings were forwarded to the authorities conducting that investigation.

In a meeting with MediaNews Group following the release of the state audit, Fegley said most of the recommended corrections to the district’s financial procedures were already in place.

Miller confirmed that each of the audit’s major findings district management had indicated that the recommendations for increased controls have already been put in place.