Update: PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — An administrator who worked for Panama City for nearly two decades is accused of embezzling $470,000 from an after-school charity that was funneled through the city.
Michael Johnson, 61, the former director of community development for Panama City and the director of the Friends of After School Assistance Program was arrested Thursday by the Panama City Police Department, officials said.
“We did become aware of this last week through employees that brought this forward,” said Panama City Police Chief Mark Smith. “With that, the Panama City Police Department was contacted. We began the initial investigation. We have identified certain discrepancies.”
Those discrepancies include about $470,000 in funding that’s missing from the non-profit called “Friends of After School Program.” Investigators said over the last 10 years Johnson wrote checks to himself out of the program’s bank account. The checks were for amounts ranging from several thousand dollars all the way up to $38,000.
City Manager Mark McQueen says the scheme began to unravel when he confronted Johnson about some unrelated management practices. Johnson immediately resigned.
“One of my expectations in the City of Panama City is to always be audit-ready, audit worthy every day. And clearly, in my estimation, Mr. Johnson has failed to achieve this core value,” McQueen said.
Right now, city officials say they only know about the $470,000 that’s missing but they’re still investigating. Panama City Police have asked the FBI for help.
“This investigation will be time-consuming. there are a lot of records that we’re going to have to go through and look at, given the magnitude of the case and the size of it and the assistance that we’re going to need,” Smith said. “It’s going to be an intense accounting issue that we’re going to run through.”
McQueen added that this development will not affect the After School Assistance Program, Housing Programs, or the Community Redevelopment Agency.
Our previous story is below
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PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — An administrator who worked for Panama City for nearly two decades is accused of embezzling $470,000 from an after-school charity that was funneled through the city.
Michael Johnson, 61, the former director of community development for Panama City and the director of the Friends of After School Assistance Program was arrested Thursday by the Panama City Police Department, officials said.
Johnson quit earlier this month. After he left his job, investigators discovered that Johnson had been writing checks to himself from the After School Assistance Program bank account, according to an incident report.
The report adds that investigators found the suspicious checks as far back as 2012 and for as much as $38,000. The report states the checks totaled more than $470,000. Johnson is now charged with grand theft of more than $100,000.
This is a developing story and we will have more information as it becomes available.