MICHIGAN PRINCIPAL OF SCHOOL CAUGHT STEALING ITEMS INCLUDING COMPUTERSPrincipal says he stole school fundsPrincipal says he stole school funds

October 28, 2005

BY DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER



To students, parents and teachers of Cherokee Elementary School in Clinton Township, Principal Richard Zaranek was a role model.


Students looked up to him, employees respected him and parents trusted him.


But Zaranek turned out to be a thief.


The 56-year-old Grosse Pointe Farms man pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzling $399,691 from the school's childcare and parent-teacher programs from 1996 to 2003.


"Mr. Zaranek used his position of trust to steal money from our children and our community," Chippewa Valley Schools Superintendent Mark Deldin told U.S. District Judge John Feikens at a plea hearing.


"His actions have had a devastating effect on our children, families and entire school community," said Deldin, the first crime victim ever allowed to address a judge at a plea hearing in U.S. District Court in Detroit, the result of the Justice For All Act of 2004.


Zaranek didn't go into details of the theft, preferring to answer Feikens' questions with a "yes" or "no."


He pleaded guilty to embezzlement and money laundering in a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Zaranek faces 24 to 33 months in prison, a $60,000 fine and restitution when Feikens sentences him early next year. He will remain free on bond.


The agreement, worked out by Assistant U.S. Attorneys R. Michael Bullotta and Rita Foley, also requires Zaranek to forfeit $399,691 from the sale of his home, a vacant lot in St. Clair County and cash seized from various accounts. The U.S. Attorney's Office plans to ask the U.S. Treasury to give the money to the school district.


Deldin said the reason for the theft remains a mystery. Zaranak had worked for the district for 30 years as a teacher and principal.


The superintendent said Zaranek siphoned funds from Cherokee's latchkey program and Parent Teacher Organization partly by persuading parents to let him handle the money. He said Zaranek created phony paperwork to account for the funds and left enough money in the programs to avoid suspicion.


Zaranek also took school property -- a tractor, lawn mower, computer, gym equipment, mountain-climbing equipment, a computer and a puppet theater -- to use at his $1 million-plus home, Deldin added.


Deldin said Zaranek also has a cottage in Hillman, near Alpena, and a condominium in Vero Beach, Fla.


He said the theft came to light when someone alerted the Michigan Department of Education. The school board fired Zaranek in April 2003. Deldin said a forensic audit pegged the loss at more than $640,000.


Bullotta said the government is trying to recover $399,691 -- the loss investigators could establish.


The scandal is the latest to hit a Macomb County school district.


During the past two years, several people have been sentenced to prison in a scheme that drained more than $3 million from the Clintondale and East Detroit school districts.