Couple Steals $854K From Township: DA

A former municipal employee and her husband, a former police officer, have been charged with embezzling more than $850,000 from a Pennsylvania township.

Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin announced charges Tuesday against the couple, Nancy Tonkin, 66, and her husband William Tonkin IV, 69, of Little Lehigh Drive South in Emmaus, Pa.

The Tonkins each face theft, stolen property and criminal conspiracy charges.

Martin says the couple stole hundreds of thousands from the utilities account of the South Whitehall Township finance department between 1999 and last June. Nancy Tonkin was a township employee for 30 years and handled billing for residential and commercial water and sewer accounts.

She used a technique called “lapping” where she would repeatedly misapply residential payments while keeping cash, according to investigators.

Investigators say the couple lost more than $100,000 on slot machines alone at casinos in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The also made more than $20,000 in ATM withdrawals at casinos alone from January 2009 to June 2012, according to investigators.

A message left at the Tonkins' home was not immediately returned.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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