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Former school employee reportedly stole more than $100K from Lakeland charter school

Posted at 8:24 AM, Jan 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-11 09:35:08-05

A former McKeel Academy administrator has been arrested on charges that she reportedly stole more than $100,000 from the Lakeland charter school. 

Ginger Collins, 45, of Lakeland has been charged with one count each of Grand Theft, Obtain Property by Fraud, Fraudulent Use of Credit Card, Money Launder Transaction, and three counts of Criminal Use of Personal Identification. 

Collins was hired in June 2015 as the Assistant Director for Seth McKeel Academy until she resigned on September 16, 2016 when she was confronted by the Director of the Schools of McKeel Academy and Assistant Director of Operations about the embezzlement. The Polk County Sheriff's Office was contacted to investigate the situation. 

The Polk County Sheriff says that Collins went to great lengths to steal from the school. 

Collins reportedly created three separate and fake companies and charged the school's credit cards through mobile payment processing services. The funds were then deposited into separate bank accounts and then deposited into her personal account. 

Bank records show that Collins used the money to buy clothing, pay personal bills, purchase home furnishings, and make personal credit card payments. 

After an independent review, it was confirmed that more than $105,426.34 was stolen from the school. 

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