Parking enforcement director stole $4,314 in meter coins to fund parties, officials say

The director of parking enforcement in a Pennsylvania township is accused of stealing $4,314 in meter coins to use as office “petty cash,” authorities said.

Some of that stolen “petty cash” was then used to pay for food, birthday cakes, office parties and restaurant outings, according to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.

Sekela Coles, Upper Darby’s director of parking enforcement, has now been charged with theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and other related charges, according to a July 31 news release from the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office.

An investigation into the Upper Darby Parking Enforcement (UDPE) theft began in February when two citizen informants reported seeing Coles’ administrative assistant putting six bags used to collect parking meter coins into her personal vehicle, authorities said.

They also reported seeing a Police and Fire Federal Credit Union deposit receipt for $2,290 on the assistant’s desk, according to the release. She also had $1,730 in cash stuffed in an envelope and a $581 receipt from the credit union on her desk.

This was suspicious, as UDPE’s standard procedure was to deposit parking meter funds at Santander Bank, authorities said. Detectives learned that Coles told her staff to give all bags filled with coins to her assistant, which was also not standard procedure.

Investigators got a search warrant for the assistant’s bank records, and they learned her husband had taken six bags filled with coins to their credit union on Jan. 14, according to the release. Surveillance images show the coins were converted into cash.

The assistant was interviewed on April 28, according to the DA’s office.

“(She) admitted that under the direction of the defendant, she took coins to her personal bank ... and converted them into paper currency,” authorities said. She said she then took the cash to her boss, who would count the money before it was stored in the assistant’s desk.

Andrew Edelberg, the criminal attorney representing Coles, told McClatchy News he believes this was an unfair and unethical investigation by the DA’s office. He does not believe Coles did anything illegal.

He said the Criminal Investigation Division detectives are not trained in handling complex white collar crimes, and they took the word of Coles’ assistant.

Edelberg said there were one or two occasions where a small amount of parking money was taken to form an office fund, though it was not believed to be inappropriate. He added that his client never directed her assistant to take money to her personal bank.

Coles’ assistant is not facing any charges, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Detectives said they also interviewed Coles on April 28.

“Although initially denying the allegations, the defendant did admit to using the funds from the parking meters for the purchase of food, birthday cakes, office parties, and restaurant trips for her and her staff,” authorities said. “She stated that she elected to keeps the funds as a ‘petty cash’ fund for use by her office.”

Coles also told interviewers that when she learned of an instance where more than $2,000 in coins was involved, she told her assistant to take the coins “in smaller increments to the tax office so that it didn’t raise any suspicion,” according to the release.

Authorities said $4,314 was stolen, and $2,037.81 has been returned.

Coles is also accused of costing Upper Darby Township about $1 million in revenue by failing to send 18,000 parking tickets to the courts, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. She also voided at least eight parking violations issued to her kids and ex-husband, officials said.

“This kind of behavior erodes public trust and must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Stollsteimer said in the news release.

McClatchy News requested comment from Upper Darby Township on Aug. 1 and was awaiting a response.

Coles is credited with revolutionizing the township’s parking enforcement department, according to her online biography.

“Under her direction, the department’s systems have been modernized,” the township said. “Coles streamlined the parking payment processes, allowing residents to pay for parking through a safe, user-friendly app as opposed to only meters, as well as take online payment methods when paying parking fines and reserving municipal parking lot spaces. In addition, she organized the enforcement operations with mapping, planning, and scheduling to focus on enforcement of all safety violations throughout the township.”

Upper Darby is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

This story was originally published August 1, 2023 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Parking enforcement director stole $4,314 in meter coins to fund parties, officials say."