Ex-Catholic school principal stole $238K from employer in payroll fraud scheme: BSO
The ex-principal of a Broward County Catholic school was arrested Thursday on charges that she stole more than $200,000 from her former employer through a payroll fraud scheme.
Lori Ann St. Thomas, 61, was booked into county jail on first-degree larceny and fraud charges, according to the probable cause warrant for her arrest. A judge set her bond at $50,000.
Administrative staff from St. Coleman Catholic School went to Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives in November 2024 to report that St. Thomas received $238,196 in unauthorized extra pay over a nine-year period through direct deposits into her bank account, the warrant states.
The extra pay was coming from a direct deposit that was never approved by the school’s priest in charge, who approves all payroll, according to the warrant.
St. Thomas’ attorney, Tonja Haddad Coleman, declined to comment when reached by the Herald on Thursday afternoon.
St. Thomas worked at St. Coleman from 2004 until June 2024, the school’s Facebook page shows.
She also worked for the Archdiocese of Miami from 1986 until 2024, the Archdioces said in a statement released to the Herald.
According to the Archdioces’ website, after leaving St. Coleman, she became principal for Mary Help of Christians School in Parkland. Per the statement, her “employment with the Archdiocese of Miami was terminated in October 2024.”
“As this is an active legal matter, we are unable to further comment at this time,” the Archdiocese said.
