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Community Center Employee Accused Of Stealing More Than $44K

KNOXVILLE (KDKA) -- A woman is accused of stealing more than $44,000 from the Knoxville community center where she worked.

Kristin Koscienski is accused of stealing $44,112 in cash from the Hilltop Community Children's Center between Feb. 19, 2016 and June 26, 2017.

According to a criminal complaint, the executive director at the center contacted police last week to report a theft.

She told police over the past few months, she had noticed a decline in the amount of money deposited from monthly cash payments from families who attend the center.

The complaint says she told police Koscienski was the administrative coordinator at the center and the main employee who processes payments. Koscienski was one of only three people who had access to the cash payments.

The executive director told police she knew Koscienski had financial issues, and Koscienski resigned shortly after the executive director questioned her about the center's financial concerns. Koscienski told the director she was moving to Florida for a new job.

When the executive director examined the center's records, she found Koscienski was not writing out paper receipts when parents paid, even though she marked that the parent had paid in ledgers on the center's computers. She also found Koscienski failed to write receipts for 522 transactions between February 2016 and June 2017.

Koscienski was arrested Saturday morning.

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