The former treasurer of the Daniel Boone Music Boosters has been charged with stealing more than $31,000 from the group, according to state police.
Tara Crouthamel, 47, of Geigertown Road, Union Township, was arrested Friday by Pennsylvania State Police from the Reading station.
She is charged with theft and access device fraud. Crouthamel was arraigned Friday before District Judge David Glass in Birdsboro. She was released on $20,000 bail to await further court action.
The alleged thefts took place between Aug. 15, 2014, and Nov. 13, 2017 – a time period when Crouthamel served as treasurer of the music boosters, police said.
During that time span, Crouthamel made numerous personal purchases using two bank cards belonging to the Daniel Boone Music Boosters, according to Trooper David Beohm, the public information officer for state police at Reading.
“There was over $31,000 charged for items not related to DBMB,” Beohm said in a press release.
Beohm told WFMZ-TV the alleged thefts were discovered after a new person took over the treasurer duties for the boosters.
“They were transitioning into a new treasurer, so then they looked into the finances and then saw these discrepancies and then contacted us,” Beohm told WFMZ.
Crouthamel used some of the money she allegedly stole to pay $15,000 in back taxes on her residence, Beohm told the station, and withdrew more than $9,000 from ATMs.
“Service Electric, E-ZPass, Walmart, Anthony’s Party Rentals, there’s a whole slew of different things where it was spent on other than the booster club,” Beohm told WFMZ. “[Crouthamel] is not the first one. Watch the news. It happens. These treasurers and these nonprofits get caught up. I don’t know what they get caught up in, but it happens.”
The Daniel Boone Music Boosters is a non-profit organization that provides assistance and support to the music program within the Daniel Boone School District, according to the group’s Facebook page.
Union Township, where Daniel Boone High School is located, does not have its own police department. Incidents in the township are investigated by state police from the Reading station.
