A former Texas
Christian University employee was sentenced today to five years in prison for
theft of federal funds, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of
Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
Margaret Faust, 69, who served as Assistant Director of
TCU’s Upward Bound program for roughly 18 years, pleaded guilty in August to
embezzling money from the program, which helps low-income high school students
prepare for college.
According to court documents, Faust routinely pocketed cash
from funds awarded to the university by the Department of Education. She stored
the money – allotted for Upward Bound participant stipends – in a locked drawer
inside her desk before depositing it in her personal checking account.
As part of her scheme, Ms. Faust instituted a program that
allowed her to withhold the stipend money in $7 increments – about the cost of
students’ bus fare, one former Upward Bound participant testified in court.
As a result of her conduct, TCU’s Upward Bound program was
terminated.
Ms. Faust has paid back more than $210,000 – but it’s
possible she stole significantly more than that, prosecutors told U.S. District
Judge Reed O’Connor at her sentencing hearing today.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department
of Education conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Fahey
prosecuted the case.
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