The entrance to Magisterial District Court Office 11-1-02 on Hazle Street, Wilkes-Barre, is seen Tuesday afternoon. A longtime district court employee is facing charges after investigators say $300,000 in cash, checks and money orders went missing from the office over five years.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
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WILKES-BARRE — A longtime district court employee is facing charges after investigators say $300,000 in cash, checks and money orders went missing from a magistrate’s office over five years.
Lisa Ann Price, 47, of Wilkes-Barre, has been charged with five felony counts of theft by unlawful taking. Investigators said the thefts of funds from Magisterial District Court Office 11-1-02 on Hazle Street took place between January 2018 and this month.
The court is presided over by Magisterial District Judge Thomas F. Malloy, Sr.
The five counts allege Price took:
• $77,482 in currency.
• $41,174 in checks payable to the court.
• $11,263 in money orders payable to the court.
• $130,245 in payments belonging to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.
• $39,874 in payments belonging to the City of Wilkes-Barre.
Price was arraigned on Monday by Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Vough, with bail set at $50,000. Court records show Price posted that amount through a bail bondsman.
According to an affidavit filed in the case:
On Dec. 15, 2022, Luzerne County detectives were contacted by Luzerne County Court Administrator Paul Hindmarsh regarding missing funds from the magistrate’s office.
Hindmarsh told detectives that a routine audit conducted by the state Auditor General’s Office in 2022 found 48 instances of deposits that were not made over a period of several years, totaling over $60,000.
An examination of check ledgers by the AG’s office found examples of checks that were drafted and funds subtracted “making it appear as though the finances are in order, but the checks were never transmitted” to the payee. In one case, a $2,300 check written to the Department of Revenue was discovered in a file folder.
Hindmarsh said a review of records revealed that Price was working during each of the irregularities.
County investigators further collected and analyzed records associated with “four recent dates of significance” in recent months, when Price was working and responsible for making deposits.
The investigation showed money orders and checks were received but not deposited at the time of receipt, and that the checks deposited coincided with dates “where entire daily financial transactions failed to reach FNCB Bank, as is customary and prescribed by normal office procedure.”
In one example cited by the affidavit, a deposit on Dec. 30, 2022 included money orders ranging from Nov. 1 through Dec. 9, and a check dating back to Sept. 7.
Detectives said they spoke with the district judge on March 20, at which time he explained the process of generating and signing checks. “Investigators learned that the signed checks were never transmitted, concealing the theft” from the judge, the affidavit states.
Investigators said a review of financial documents from the court revealed that signed checks from the court to various government entities were never received by the intended recipients.
As of Jan. 31, District Court 11-1-02 records showed that the state Department of Revenue and the City of Wilkes-Barre were owed $170,119 by the court, the affidavit states.
A search warrant was executed at the office on March 24 after business hours, seeking any checks or money orders payable to the office, as well as cash, and any checks from the court to other government entities for funds owed from the collection of fines from defendants.
“After a thorough search” nothing was found, investigators said.
Because of that, “investigators believe that Lisa Price is secreting” money orders, checks and cash in her private vehicle or home, the affidavit states.
The affidavit says detectives “periodically conducted surveillance” of Price that included observing her end of work day activities. What they observed was Price getting in her vehicle, driving home, getting out out of the vehicle and entering her home, usually carrying a purse.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m. April 5 before Vough.