NHS Choral Director Faces Larceny, Forgery Charges

By Andrew Gorosko

Police have arrested a Newtown High School teacher, charging her with three felonies and a misdemeanor, including larceny and forgery, stemming from a series of events dating back to 2002.

On April, 11, Sabrina Post, 47, of 18 Split Rock Road, Newtown, surrendered at the police station and was arrested on the school-related charges on a Danbury Superior Court warrant

The warrant was issued last week following a lengthy police investigation. The warrant lists one felony count of first degree larceny for allegedly defrauding a public community, two felony counts of second degree forgery, and one misdemeanor count of criminal attempt to commit fifth degree larceny. After processing her arrest, police released Ms Post on a written promise to appear in court April 22 for arraignment on the financial crime charges.

On February 8, school officials placed Ms Post on paid administrative leave. Ms Post is the high school’s choral director, a senior class advisor, a Drama Club advisor, and had been the director of the NHS Drama Club’s production of Show Boat.

Following the her suspension, school officials declined to comment on why Ms Post was removed from duty as a teacher. 

Police Chief Michael Kehoe said April 12, “It’s still an active and ongoing investigation that we will pursue.” Chief Kehoe declined to say whether he expects any additional charges to be lodged against Ms Post.

School Superintendent Evan Pitkoff said April 13, “We’re [school administrators] still collecting information at this time” in terms of Ms Post’s future employment status. Dr Pitkoff said he expects to make some recommendation to the school board on the matter.

“She’s [Post] innocent until proven guilty,” he said, adding, “We need to respect the [legal] process that’s in front of us.

“We always look for ways to improve upon our accounting system,” Dr Pitkoff said. School officials will seek appropriate measures to ensure that school accounts are safe, he said.     

According to police, the arrest stems from a February 2005 complaint that was made by the public schools. That complaint alleged that Ms Post received monetary reimbursement during 2003 by submitting a fraudulent invoice.

Police said Ms Post also attempted to receive payment for purchases made in December 2004. Police said the forgery charges stem from Ms Post’s allegedly altering invoices with the intent to defraud.

On April 13, Ms Post had no comment on the matter, referring questions on her arrest to her lawyer, Robert Lacobelle of Trumbull.

Mr Lacobelle could not be reached for comment.

On February 8, police received a complaint from Dr Pitkoff, according to the police’s arrest warrant application on file at court.

“Dr Pitkoff stated that after a review of purchase orders and invoices for the Newtown High School Music Department, discrepancies were found,” according to the court papers.

Dr Pitkoff provided police with purchase orders and invoices from 2003 and 2004 as evidence.

On June 16, 2003, Ms Post was reimbursed $1,813 by the high school activity fund, including a $1,400 bus overtime charge for a Class of 2003 bus trip to Boston. The remaining $413 involved other expenses.

“[Ms Post] had submitted an altered Coach Tours LTD invoice to the high school, claiming that [she] had paid for the bus overtime with her MasterCard credit card,” according to the court papers.

That $1,400 overtime charge purportedly represented the overtime charge for four buses for two hours, according to the court papers.

While investigating the case, police visited Coach Tours on Federal Road in Brookfield and spoke to the firm’s president, Mike Neustadt.

Mr Neustadt told police that the bus invoice in question had been altered, and then produced a copy of the original invoice that had been submitted to the high school for transportation costs.

The original invoice, dated June 6, 2003, was for $3,500, which had been paid by the high school, Mr Neustadt told police.

“Neustadt stated that he had no record of overtime being charged for the Newtown High School bus trip,” according to the arrest warrant application.

Mr Neustadt additionally told police that in 2003, the overtime charge for a bus was only $50 per hour.

On the altered bus invoice, the original text had been covered over, and the overtime charge and a 12-digit MasterCard number had been typed in, according to the court documents. Such an account number should have had 16 digits.

“This $1,400 payment for bus overtime appears to have been fraudulently obtained from the Newtown High School Activity Fund by [Ms Post],” according to the court papers.

Music Store

For the police probe, high school officials provided a March 1, 2003, invoice from Creative Music and Arts, LLC, of Main Street in Monroe, which appears to have been altered, according to the arrest, warrant application.

Ms Post had submitted the invoice for $259 to the high school for reimbursement, but the store has no record of receiving a MasterCard payment from Ms Post in that amount, according to the court records. An original invoice was in the amount of $127.

Liz Reisman, the owner of the music store, told police that Ms Post had told the store to bill the high school for piano lessons for Ms Post’s two children. Ms Post then told Ms Reisman that she would settle the payment for her children’s piano lessons with the high school, according to the documents.

The children started piano lessons in November 2002, and took lessons until January 2005.

“Reisman stated that [Post] had verbally asked to apply money from the high school account toward her children’s music lessons,” according to the documents.

Room Rental

On October 22, 2003, Ms Post rented the use of a room at Edmond Town Hall for $350, using a personal check to pay for it, according to court records.

Newtown Public Schools then reimbursed Ms Post the $350. She  submitted another reimbursement request for that rental, using the same check, to the Newtown High School Activity Fund. Ms Post was reimbursed a second time for the expense.

“Superintendent Pitkoff spoke to [Ms Post] regarding this double billing and [she] stated it was a mistake,” according to the arrest warrant application.

In December 2004, Ms Post submitted a purchase order for reimbursement of $1,303 worth of music equipment. That equipment included three electric guitars and a drum pad. Sales tax was added to the bill, which was made out to Ms Post’s home address, according to the documents.

The public school system is tax-exempt.

“[Ms Post] was not reimbursed for this purchase order after it was reviewed by Newtown High School Principal Pat Llodra,” according to the documents.

In another case, Ms Post submitted a purchase order for reimbursement of $277 to cover purchases at Tweeter on Federal Road in Danbury. That invoice was made out to Mike Reid at 18 Split Rock Road.

The $277 covered costs for a 12-volt audio amplifier, a fuse holder, fuses, and car audio components, according to the court papers.

The purchase order submitted for reimbursement stated that the equipment was for school use. After being reviewed by the high school principal, the reimbursement request was denied.

In the police investigation, the store manager told police that the equipment listed on the invoice was intended for a car stereo system.

Allegations

On February 7, Dr Pitkoff and Ronald Bienkowski, who is the school business manager, met with Ms Post concerning reimbursements and purchase orders.

“Dr Pitkoff stated [Ms Post] denied any wrongdoing [but] could not produce a credit card receipt for the $1,400 bus overtime,” according to the court papers.

Ms Post was asked about the purchase of musical equipment from the music store in Monroe.

She said that the guitars were in the high school music room, but those instruments could not be found there, the court documents state.

Also, after being asked about the double billing for the room rental at Edmond Town Hall, Ms Post  responded that it was a mistake, according to the arrest warrant application.

Ms Post was then suspended with pay.