The former president of the Derry Area Aqua Club is accused of embezzling money from the club for gambling.
Westmoreland County Detectives have charged 35-year-old Josie Ruffner of Latrobe with proceeds of an unlawful activity, theft by unlawful taking, unauthorized use of an access device and misapplying entrusted property. Last October, Derry Police were notified of the theft of $24,000 and called the Westmoreland County Detectives to assist. They discovered that 150 unauthorized transactions were recorded on the club’s bank account between September and October, with the transactions connected to a debit card in possession of Ruffner and that the account was overdrawn by $800. Detectives said that she used the debit card to make payments for sports bets and online gambling through FanDuel and transfers made on digital platforms like Venmo, CashApp and ApplePay.
Ruffner admitted to detectives she used the card for gambling and for personal purchases at Giant Eagle, Sunoco and at Rivers Casino.
She was arraigned yesterday and is now in Westmoreland County Prison as she failed to post $25,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for January 22nd.
The club issued a statement on its Facebook page and while they are hurt by what happened, they plan to move forward with their normal program for their swimmers. They added that as soon as they were made aware of the unauthorized expenditures, they called police, who started the investigation that same day.
