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Laurel school secretary charged with stealing pizza money

February 22, 2022

A Laurel elementary school secretary faces felony theft charges after police say he stole money from a school pizza fundraiser.

Wade L. Bryan, 40, of Laurel, was indicted Feb. 14 on two counts of felony theft over $1,500 in connection with a fundraiser at North Laurel Elementary, said Master Cpl. Heather Pepper of the Delaware State Police.

Pepper said Bryan worked as school secretary during summer and fall 2021, and was responsible for incoming funds from the school’s pizza fundraiser as well as prekindergarten tuition. When incoming checks from the fundraiser hadn’t cleared parents’ bank accounts, Pepper said, the school discovered Bryan failed to make any deposits. District officials checked the school safe and discovered all of the cash proceeds from the fundraiser were missing, and checks were never deposited, Pepper said.

In addition, she said, Bryan improperly gave the fundraising company the district’s bank account information to automatically withdraw payment for the fundraiser. 

District officials then conducted an internal audit for other financial activity Bryan was responsible for, and they learned he had taken incoming cash proceeds from the pre-K tuition program and only deposited incoming checks into the district’s bank account, Pepper said. In total, she said, $3,198.50 cash from the fundraiser and $1,775 from pre-K tuition funds were stolen. 

Bryan turned himself in following his indictment, and he was released on his own recognizance. 

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