DALLAS— The former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Grand Prairie, Texas, Independent School District (GPISD), Carolyn Foster, was arrested yesterday by special agents with the U.S. Secret Service on a federal indictment returned last week in Dallas, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Foster was arrested at her current place of employment, International Leadership of Texas in Richardson, Texas, where she is the director of finance. She made her initial appearance yesterday in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan and pleaded not guilty to the charge; she was released on bond,
Specifically, the one-count indictment charges Foster, 61, of Lewisville, Texas, with one count of federal program theft, alleging that from October 2014 to July 2015, she fraudulently obtained approximately $600,000.00 from the GPISD.
An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, the maximum statutory penalty for this offense is 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution may also be ordered.
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wiley is in charge of the prosecution.
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