Schuylkill County allots more than $400,000 from insurance for theft

July 26--POTTSVILLE -- The Schuylkill County commissioners on Wednesday approved the distribution of almost $450,000 received from the settlement of the insurance claim resulting from an employee's theft of money from the conservation district.

The district will receive that $449,064.07 paid in 2016 to the county by its insurer, the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool, as the result of Virginia G. Kunigonis' theft, the commissioners said in approving the memorandum of understanding between them and the district.

"We had an insurance policy. There's a list of potential projects" on which the money can be spent, First Assistant County Solicitor Glenn Roth said after the vote.

Roth said the county will be able to spend the entire amount because the federal and state governments each declined to seek reimbursement for any of their money that Kunigonis had stolen.

That memorandum ensures the district will be made whole for the actions of Kunigonis, which resulted in the Branch Township woman being sent to federal prison.

Kunigonis pleaded guilty on Oct. 15, 2015, in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg to theft from programs receiving federal funds. On Feb. 17, 2016, Senior U.S. District Judge William W. Caldwell sentenced her to serve one year in prison and another year on supervised release, pay a $100 special assessment and $452,122 restitution, and forfeit her county pension and interest in her residence.

Federal prosecutors alleged that between October 2007 and May 2014, Kunigonis embezzled $452,186 from the district, for which she worked as an administrative assistant. Kunigonis forged 437 checks, totaling $410,435, drawn on a district checking account and used a district credit card to pay $41,751 in personal expenses, prosecutors said.

County Director of Finance Paul E. Buber said the county is working to ensure that such a theft never occurs again.

"There have been some suggestions made to improve the internal controls to minimize the risk of a future reoccurrence. More involvement of the district manager, more hands-on (work) concerning financial management" is the main tool that will be used, Buber said.

Contact the writer: [email protected]; 570-628-6014

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