CONYNGHAM TWP. — Former township supervisor and secretary Linda Tarlecki issued herself extra paychecks, received dubious reimbursements and made unexplained withdrawals from township accounts, which over a five-year period accounted for nearly a quarter-million dollars in taxpayer money, according to a township auditor.

The missing funds, totaling $241,574, are more than the entire operating budget of $183,472 for 2017 for the township at Columbia County's southern tip.

Township Auditor Sue Darrah, who has been reviewing financial records from Tarlecki’s time in office, presented the numbers at Monday night’s Conyngham Township supervisors meeting at the Wilburton No. 2 fire hall with a warning: 

“Please refrain from laughter,” she told the crowd. 

As the elected auditor, Darrah was tasked with piecing together the township’s finances for the last five years using statements and canceled checks obtained from the bank. Most of the township’s internal records had been destroyed or removed after Tarlecki was ousted from both her supervisor’s position and township job in January, Darrah said.

Among the questionable expenditures were 97 extra payroll checks Tarlecki issued to herself over that time, including 37 in 2015. That’s in addition to the 26 checks she was legally entitled to each year, Darrah noted.

She also paid herself $19,926 for thousands of miles driven each year — all for a township that encompasses just six square miles. 

In 2014, she logged 8,245 miles, claiming to have driven nearly 800 miles in two days, Darrah said.

“The mileage is just so extravagant, it’s ridiculous,” she said. 

Tarlecki also made an unexplained withdrawal from the general fund that year for $16,900.

“There was no reasoning, no transfer, and no deposit elsewhere,” Darrah noted.

Surcharges
While a criminal investigation is ongoing, Darrah said she plans to file court paperwork that would make those who knowingly signed bad checks, including some past and present supervisors, financially responsible as well.

The paperwork is called a surcharge and is filed in civil court. It’s equal to the amount lost by the township if it’s caused “in whole or in part by the officer’s act or omission in violation of law,” according to Pennsylvania law.

If there were two other supervisors besides Tarlecki separately signing checks, it’s possible neither knew the scope of the stealing because they only saw half of the checks, township solicitor Michael Smith pointed out.

But in 2017, current supervisor Todd Croker was the only other signatory on the checks, according to records.

“Aren’t checks supposed to have three signatures?” one resident asked.

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Smith replied. “But you’re also not supposed to steal $241,000, either.”

Julye Wemple can be reached at julye.wemple@pressenterprise.net, or at 570-387-1234, ext. 1323.