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Former school bookkeeper accused of stealing $340,000 from Bradenton Charter School in Florida.
Melissa Tapia, the former bookkeeper at Team Success charter school, is suspected of stealing more than $340,000 from the school and its management firm. According to a Sheriff’s Office report, investigators believe Tapia stole $250,000 from the school, and $91,496 from Spence Management Group, the firm running the school’s administration. Tapia has worked in management for both the charter school and the management firm for several years. Investigators believe she began making fraudulent charges from the management firm’s accounts in January 2017 and from the school accounts in May of that year, according to reports. Through her attorney, Tapia has admitted to writing 47 fraudulent checks and stealing at least $225,000 from the school. School principal Armando Viota-Garcia suspects Tapia stole an additional $25,000, and wrote as many as 80 fraudulent checks, but as of the September report, he had not yet verified that.