A local nonprofit leader faces allegations that she made personal transactions using the accounts of a former employer.
Megan Riggs, currently the managing director of Gretna Theatre, was charged on Wednesday, May 29, by the Ephrata Police Department with felony access device fraud and misdemeanor theft by deception.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, members of the Ephrata Performing Arts Center contacted Ephrata police in August 2023 over suspicions that a former employee, Riggs, had misused EPAC-issued debit and credit cards. The affidavit states that the organization’s suspicions arose in 2022 when Riggs did not provide credit card statements between April and August, despite being asked monthly.
The situation came to a head, the affidavit says, when on Aug. 23, 2022, an EPAC representative emailed Riggs and demanded that she provide her credit card statements for the last four months by Aug. 26, 2022. The next day, Riggs allegedly shared the credit card statements along with a letter of resignation and a check for an “accidental personal purchase” and “solitary purchase” made on EPAC’s credit card, which she said was identified while reviewing the statements.
The affidavit states that EPAC hired accounting and advisory firm RKL in September 2022 to review the organization’s finance function. RKL’s report for EPAC issued in November 2022 “revealed areas of concern related to purchases made by Riggs,” including miscoded purchases in QuickBooks and questionable credit card transactions.
During correspondence with EPAC’s attorney between February and July 2023, Riggs acknowledged personal purchases made with EPAC’s card at a hotel, a sushi restaurant, and a salon, among others, and cited them as “inadvertent mistakes,” the affidavit says.
The legal filing says that after months of correspondence, Riggs offered partial repayment in an amount that EPAC did not accept because it was not seen as an accurate amount of repayment.
“Further, Riggs stated that additional information would be provided to EPAC through her attorney,” says the affidavit. “Riggs never obtained either attorney she told EPAC she consulted with, and therefore communication between EPAC and Riggs was ceased in July 2023.”
Ephrata police’s investigation concluded in allegations that Riggs made 22 personal and unauthorized purchases totaling $2,100.71, as well as seven unauthorized checks totaling $740, including one that was purportedly written to a coworker to reimburse him for fronting her dues for American Legion Cloister Post 429.
According to court documents, Riggs is represented by attorney Stephen Grosh, who did not respond to repeated attempts at contact by LebTown on Friday.
The 38-year-old Elizabethtown resident posted bail, set at $5,000 during a preliminary arraignment Thursday in front of Lancaster Judge Torrey J. Landis, and is scheduled to appear in court again on Friday, June 28, for a formal arraignment.
In a statement issued on behalf of the nonprofit’s board, Gretna Theatre president James Cassel said the allegations against Riggs by her former employer are in no way connected to her position at Gretna Theatre.
“We will not be commenting on the case, as this is a personal legal matter which does not involve our organization,” said Cassel. “The board is monitoring the situation and is hopeful the issue will be quickly resolved.”
According to a May 2023 profile by LNP written when she got the Gretna Theatre position, Riggs had been employed by EPAC as an actor and director, in addition to working in the business office. She has also been enrolled part-time as a law student attending Widener University’s Commonwealth campus in Harrisburg.
LNP reported Friday that EPAC board president Andrea Glass said the organization is cooperating with authorities and updating its financial controls.
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