Davis High secretary admits to more than $82K in unauthorized charges on school cards

BOUNTIFUL — A secretary at Davis High School is facing a felony charge of misuse of public money for using school credit cards for her personal expenses.

According to probable cause documents filed by the Davis County Attorney’s Office, Kellie Wilko admitted to multiple unauthorized purchases totaling $82,045.02 on two school credit cards, including one charge for approximately $2,700 for new flooring in her home.

School district auditor Nathan Lee discovered a transaction for $1,632.29 to a PayPal account and because it was over $1,000, he made a search. He found 42 unauthorized charges on two credit cards to the same account. One had Wilko’s name on it and the other was available to multiple employees to use for purchases on behalf of the school. Lee found additional suspicious transactions.

“However, there were so many transactions, it was difficult for Mr. Lee to determine which purchases were for personal use and which charges were for legitimate school purposes,” the documents state.

Documents state that investigators interviewed Lee who admitted to making the unauthorized charges made between July 21, 2020 and Feb. 9, 2021.

Davis School District issued a statement:

The Davis School District takes its stewardship of school funds very seriously. When an allegation comes to its attention involving an employee, that individual is placed on leave immediately so that an investigation can occur. 

The activity was discovered through the district’s regular internal auditing processes and proved to be effective.

No students or programs were adversely impacted because the funds were recouped.