An arrest warrant has been issued for an Anchorage woman accused of wrongfully obtaining a credit card tied to the Muldoon Elementary PTA and using it to buy electronics and fast food.
Loretta Marie McGee, 37, faces charges of second-degree theft, scheming to defraud and fraudulent use of a credit card, according to a criminal complaint filed in Anchorage Superior Court.
The complaint says the assistant principal at Muldoon Elementary filed an online report with the Anchorage Police Department in November. The assistant principal, Dawn Campbell, told police McGee had been a PTA member two years earlier, the last time the PTA had been active. There was no PTA in 2013, the assistant principal said, and also said that McGee had access to the association's bank account from her time on the board earlier. Last fall, a debit card arrived at the school with McGee's name on it.
"Loretta McGee asked the secretary to give her the PTA debit card and I believe she began making charges with it that were not authorized (personal charges such as Taco Bell, Fred Meyer, etc.)," the complaint says, in a quote from the principal's report.
A bank statement showed $1,700 worth of charges on the card in the last week of October 2014, the principal said.
A police investigation found McGee asked for resources to help the Muldoon PTA despite being told her term as a board member expired. Last year, the elementary school started getting packages for the PTA addressed to McGee, according to the complaint.
"(Campbell) said the packages had an assortment of items from tablets (computers) and accessories to shirts," the complaint says.
McGee allegedly claimed the she purchased the items in the packages with her own money. The principal expressed doubts and said the mail would be handed over if she provided receipts.
McGee never showed up with a receipt, according to the complaint. She explained away the charges to an Anchorage police detective and the school through multiple stories, including one in which Juan San Miguel, president-elect for the Alaska PTA, was mentoring her, the complaint says. She claimed to have bought fast food during a meeting with Miguel.
That meeting over fast food never occurred, according to the detective. Miguel did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
Alaska's PTAs are individually responsible for their own finances and record-keeping, according to Alaska PTA.
During her interview with police, McGee maintained innocence and demanded proof that she was responsible for the stolen funds. But she eventually stopped the interview, saying she needed to speak with her attorney, according to the complaint.
The charges against McGee don't explicitly say how much money she allegedly stole. The charge of second-degree theft covers an amount between $750 and $24,999.
McGee has no criminal convictions in Alaska, according to court records.
An Anchorage district court judge set McGee's bail at $3,000, and a court date has yet to be set in the case.