HARRISBURG — A Danville woman was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment and ordered to pay nearly $2 million in restitution for embezzling more than $3 million from a fire department ambulance company in Mount Carmel.
Thea Tafner, 56, a former elementary school principal in the Line Mountain School District, pleaded guilty to stealing the money over a nine-year period while serving as chairperson for the American Hose and Chemical Fire Company, said U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith.
Chief U.S. Distict Court Judge Yvette Kane imposed the sentence today and ordered Tafner to pay the restitution.
While working for the fire company, Tafner managed the department’s finances and operations. Investigators said she opened an unauthorized and fraudulent bank account for the ambulance company, then directed Medicare payments into that account.
A total of $3.71 million was diverted into the account from Oct. 23, 2000 to Nov. 2, 2009, and about $1.81 million of that money was used by Tafner for personal gain.
Tafner was charged on Dec. 23, 2010, and she pleaded guilty on Jan. 7 and resigned from the school district.
The case was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Prosecution was assigned to Christy H. Fawcett, an assistant U.S. attorney.
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