Former Mustang Public Schools employee pleads guilty to defrauding district

MUSTANG, Okla. (KFOR) — A former Mustang Public Schools (MPS) employee has entered a guilty plea for defrauding hundreds of thousands of dollars from the school district.

Kim Weinrich, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and making a false tax return.

According to a media statement, Weinrich had manipulated the district's payroll system in order to inflate her income and falsify tax withholdings, resulting in approximately $471,657.91 to be misappropriated.

“While we are deeply disappointed by this breach of trust, we are also proud of the decisive actions taken by our team to uncover, report, and address this wrongdoing. This incident does not define Mustang Public Schools but rather demonstrates our resolve to protect the resources entrusted to us by our community. Moving forward, we will continue to prioritize strong financial oversight and safeguard the public trust that is essential to our mission,” said Superintendent Charles Bradley, with Mustang Public Schools.

Since the incident, Mustang Public Schools has implemented enhanced financial safeguards in order to prevent this from occurring again, which includes, separation of payroll duties to prevent single points of control, regularly auditing and detailed reviewing performed by finance team members, and improving both accuracy and accountability by aligning payroll entries with personnel systems.

Weinrich was employed with Mustang Public Schools from 2014 until April 2022. In 2014, Weinrich was hired by the district as Payroll Supervisor but was promoted in 2021 to Director of Payroll Services.