The former PTA treasurer at a Cobble Hill public school is facing 15 years in detention — the real kind — after being indicted this week for embezzling close to $100,000 from her school.
Providence Hogan, who kept the books for PS 29 on Henry Street between Baltic and Kane streets, stole the cash to “keep her family living in the lifestyle they were accustomed to,” DA Charles Hynes said on Tuesday, one day before Hogan was set to surrender to authorities.
But the money wasn’t just for her existing family; Hynes claims the 43-year-old mom wrote several large checks to herself between 2007 and 2008 for fertility treatments as well as to cover rent on her apartment and her business, the Providence Day Spa on Atlantic Avenue between Smith and Hoyt streets.
Hogan, who has a young daughter attending PS 29, covered her tracks by falsifying documents and business records, Hynes said. Parent association leaders didn’t realize that the money was missing until February, when they found a gap in the group’s tax returns. When they confronted her about the irregularities, Hogan admitted the theft, prosecutors say.
In all, investigators tracked $82,000 in rent payments, medical treatments and business expenses swiped from the PS 29 PTA treasury.
“We figure she made the rest out to cash and used it on everyday items,” said a source close to the DA’s office.
Parents remain stunned.
“I’m disappointed,” said Dominick Balsamo, who has grandkids in the school. “You trust in someone and they take the money you put toward your kid’s future.”
The current parent association president and parent coordinator at PS 29 did not get back to us by late Tuesday. A call to Steve Flamhaft, Hogan’s attorney, wasn’t returned.
Hogan’s crimes aren’t stopping fundraising efforts at the school, which has embarked on a “coin harvest” to raise money for Japan earthquake relief efforts. The school expects to raise $6,500 — the same amount collected for Haiti earthquake victims last year.
