Tamaqua woman pays back stolen money to Girl Scouts

A Tamaqua woman accused of stealing more than $6,000 from a local Daisy Girl Scout Troop has made restitution to the organization.

Kayla Lee Hartranft, 28, of 214 Brown Street, Tamaqua, repaid the funds Tuesday morning before waiving her preliminary hearing before District Judge Stephen Bayer.

The repayment will allow Hartranft, who has no prior criminal record, to enter the ARD program once her case gets to the Schuylkill County Courts. She’s also agreed to sign a waiver with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable Organizations, agreeing to never again hold a position of trust with a nonprofit organization.

Hartranft was one of two people who had access to Daisy Troop 31210’s bank account at the M and T Bank. She was the one who handled the bulk of transactions in 2017. In September, the other person with access to the account discovered the troop’s bank balance stood at $1.21. When she checked the various transactions, she discovered many of the withdrawals and checks were unrelated to the troop. Instead, they were used by Hartranft to pay utility bills and purchase groceries and concert tickets.

Tamaqua Cpl. Henry Woods is the investigator on the case, charging her with theft by unlawful taking, failure to make proper disposition of funds, theft by deception and receiving stolen property. A forensic audit was conducted by Drew Koser, a special investigator with the Bureau of Charitable Organizations.

Hartranft remains free on $10,000 unsecured bail.