LYNNWOOD, Wash., May 31 (UPI) -- Two school cafeteria workers in Washington state made 1,500 unneeded lunches then disposed of them as part of a scheme to pad their paychecks, officials allege.
KOMO-TV, Seattle, reported Thursday an internal review by Edmonds School District officials uncovered the alleged fraud at College Place Elementary School and the matter was forwarded to the state auditor's office.
A school district spokeswoman said the two cafeteria workers were found to have spent hours making more student lunches than needed, billed the government for their time and disposed of the food. It wasn't clear how much money the two workers made from inflated food orders, but the district must repay about $4,500 to the federal government, which subsidizes lunches for needy students, KOMO-TV said.
"Sadly it's a pittance to kind of ruin your reputation on," said D.J. Jakala of the Edmonds School District.
"The food was disposed of by the employees so that their inventory remained neutral."
Both workers resigned when confronted with the evidence, the district spokeswoman said. The TV station said there were no plans to pursue criminal charges against the pair.
