A woman who stole more than $75,000 from the Topock Elementary School District was sentenced to jail Wednesday.
In 2008, Sarah Diaz gained access to school credit cards through her mother, who was the business manager for the district, and used them for personal purchases until 2013.
“This was such a unique scheme because Diaz’s mom was in a position of trust,” said Mia Garcia, spokeswoman for Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
Kim Konnerth, Diaz’s mother, used credit cards, checks and cash withdrawals to embezzle $236,548, according to the Attorney General’s office. Konnerth died in February, 2017.
In December, Diaz pled guilty to fraud schemes and theft after using the credit cards for more than five years.
“She was not the mastermind behind this theft,” said Garcia. “But she will still spend a year behind bars for her role in this scheme.”
The small school district in the northwestern corner of the state had to take out a loan to cover losses from Diaz and Konnerth’s theft.
“You have school district employees who didn’t get raises this year and the district almost had to close its doors because of this,” said Garcia. “So it was pretty heartbreaking for them.”
Diaz was sentenced to one year in jail without early release and five years of supervised probation. She must repay the full $75,455 to the district.
