Employee accused of stealing $1M from Centre County-based educational provider
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- Employee Carri Roan accused of stealing more than $1 million from educational provider.
- She allegedly endorsed checks to herself from September 2020 through 2025 to cover debts.
- Police say student services remained intact; Roan faces felonies and $100,000 bail.
An employee was charged Wednesday with stealing more than $1 million from a Bellefonte-area organization that provides specialized educational services for high school students in multiple counties.
Carri A. Roan, 46, of Spring Township, was accused of stealing the money from Nittany Learning Services, 300 S. Harrison Road, to cover her medical bills and other personal expenses.
She stole 91 checks between September 2020 and two months ago, Spring Township police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. The police department’s detective said Roan told him she would receive checks from school districts, endorse them to herself and then put the money into her personal checking account.
Nittany Learning Services has contracts with school districts to provide alternative education services for disruptive youth and has been in operation since 2016. Its proposal this summer for services to the Keystone Central School District was $17,000 per seat for five seats, according to the Lock Haven Express.
Roan also admitted to occasionally using the organization’s credit card and taking “large sums” of money in the past. Police said the allegations were corroborated by a text message Roan sent to the private company’s owners.
“I left you down is all I can say. The trust was there and I broke it,” Roan said, according to police. “I wrote those recent checks over to myself. I am in a very bad financial spot and no one knows about it not even (redacted) or my family.
“With the debt from my health I have maxed out all kinds of credit cards and I still have over $100,000 in medical bills and collectors keep coming for me. I know this is no excuse and all I can say is I am sorry. I hate myself for this.”
The investigation began in September after the organization’s owners told police of major shortfalls in their accounting, as well as missing money. They said Roan was the only person responsible for the financials and offered “no real answer to the issues” when they confronted her about the discrepancies.
During an interview at her home, the detective said Roan told him she fell into financial problems after being diagnosed with a disease. She also said she “did this on her own,” police wrote.
“As i lay her(e) tonight all I can think about is how I let you guys down and my family and now I will be in jail and I am in a worse spot than before,” Roan said in the text message, according to police. “I have not(h)ing to show for anything and my account is way over drawn again and I can’t repay you right now.
“I know I should have came to you but I didn’t. I can never show my face again to you guys, I will never be seen the same...I am sorry!”
The Centre Daily Times attempted to contact Roan through the phone number listed for her, but a woman who answered disconnected. No defense lawyer was listed.
Police said in the affidavit that no student services have been affected by the alleged crimes and that the contractual obligations of Nittany Learning Services had been met.
“The educational needs of the students has not suffered,” police wrote. A phone number listed for the organization was not accepting calls as of Wednesday morning.
Roan is charged with felony counts of theft, receiving stolen property, forgery and criminal use of a communication facility. She was released by District Judge Greg Koehle, who set bail at $100,000 unsecured.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 10.