A member of the Cranston School Committee was arrested Wednesday by the Rhode Island State Police Financial Crimes Unit for allegedly stealing money from the local PTO that she ran.
School Committee Member Tera Norberg was arrested on charges including unlawful appropriation, embezzlement, filing a false document, and obstructing an officer in execution of duty.
The arrest came after the Cranston School Department Business Office launched an internal inquiry into missing funds from the Stone Hill Elementary School Parent Teacher Group’s bank account.
Norberg initially reported that she’d discovered the funds were missing and claimed to have identified the person responsible. She even went as far as to provide a notarized document from the Cranston School Department Business Office which said the person responsible would fully repay the funds. However that person didn’t exist and was made up by Norberg.
Norberg later admitted to creating the fake person responsible and admitted that she stole the funds.
It is believed that Norberg stole in the neighborhood of $3,000 but that number could go higher as the case is still be investigated.
Norberg was arraigned and released on $10,000 personal recognizance. A pre-arraignment conference has been scheduled for October 11th.
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