Public Affairs
Contact: Marc Kovac
press@ohioauditor.gov

Columbus – A former secretary for the Painesville City Local Schools has been sentenced to 60 days in the Lake County Jail and two years of community control after pleading guilty in Lake County Common Pleas Court to stealing from the district, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced.

Brenda Kalina pleaded guilty to a single felony count of theft in office and was sentenced Friday, Nov. 4, with orders to make restitution of $2,500 to the school district and $3,423.50 to the Auditor of State’s Office.

Kalina was indicted in July after the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit determined she improperly withdrew funds from the Painesville City Local School District credit union account and failed to deposit cash tuition payments. Accounting records were altered to hide the activities.

As part of her sentence, Kalina was barred from gambling or playing the lottery and is required to continue treatment for a gambling addiction. A failure to meet the terms of her sentence could result in a prison term of 9-36 months, according to court documents.

Since 2019, the Special Investigations Unit has assisted in 94 convictions resulting in more than $4.9 million in restitution (Map of SIU Convictions Since January 2019: https://ohioauditor.gov/fraud/convictions_map.html). The team receives hundreds of tips of suspected fraud annually. Tips can be submitted anonymously online or via SIU’s fraud hotline at 1-866-FRAUD-OH (1-866-372-8364).

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio is responsible for auditing more than 6,000 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.