Former Biloxi School District police chief charged with embezzling over $150,000
Published 11:16 am Thursday, November 16, 2017
Paul Gordon Cannette was arrested Tuesday and charged with embezzling over $150,000 from the Mississippi Association of School Resource Officers (MARSO). This money was supposed to be go toward providing safety at the Biloxi School District.
Cannette, now the ex-police chief for the Biloxi School District, was investigated by the State Auditor’s office. The charges allege that he took $169,865.60 from MARSO between April 2013 and November 2016. The State Auditor’s office has demanded he pays back the money he allegedly embezzled with interest, and the recovery costs, which comes out to $244,819.78.
The money he allegedly embezzled came to MARSO in the form of a grant by the Mississippi Department of Education.
“This is another instance of an individual violating the trust of a community by embezzlement. This offense is a particularly egregious because the stolen funds should have gone toward providing safety to our schoolchildren,” State Auditor Stacey Pickering said in a statement to Mississippi Today. “My office will continue the fight to recover misspent and, in this case, stolen money on behalf of Mississippi taxpayers.”
This arrest comes three weeks after West Bolivar Superintendent Beverly Culley was accused of overpaying herself by $52,000.
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Biloxi School District ex-police chief arrested for embezzlement
