A jury found Verna Wright guilty of Theft of Property ($10,000 but less that $60,000) earlier this month.
She will be sentenced in February.
Original story - August 2017
A former Oneida school employee is accused of stealing more than $60,000 io buy electronics, cell phone cases, and designer purses.
Verna Wright, the former Food Service Director for the Oneida Special School District (OSSD) in Scott County, faces charges of theft of property over $60,000 and official misconduct.
According to the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, their investigation began when the Director of Schools became concerned about some unusual purchases with food service funds.
Investigators discovered that school district officials allowed Wright to use her personal credit cards to make purchases and pay the balances with food service funds. In April, Wright admitted she bought eight computers, three iPads, eight iPods, and more than 110 phone cases and decorations for Samsung cell phones. She also spent more than $2,500 to purchase more than 65 Vera Bradley designer bags.
Wright returned several carloads of the items, according to the Comptroller's Office, which had been stored in her basement. Some of the purchases were still in their original packaging and been bought up to five years ago.
Her contract with the school was allowed to expire on June 30, 2017. She was indicted on August 22.
“This investigation speaks to the importance of separating the key functions of a financial process,” said Comptroller Justin P. Wilson. “The same person should not be responsible for preparing checks and reviewing bank statements and invoices. It’s a key reason why this activity went undetected for several years.”