The former VP of finance of Montgomery Township Baseball and Softball Association pocketed COVID relief funds, reimbursed himself for bogus expenses, police said
The former vice president of finance of Montgomery Township Baseball and Softball Association has admitted to a misdemeanor theft charge related to stealing more than $43,000 from the nonprofit youth sports organization.
Christopher Mark Pekula, 49, of Guilford Court in Montgomery Township, entered a guilty plea Thursday at a bench trial to misdemeanor theft by failing to make required deposits of funds and awaits sentencing in Montgomery County Common Pleas court, according to court documents.
Pekula was facing conviction on three felony theft charges and two misdemeanor charges of misapplication of entrusted government funds and securing execution of documents by deception, but all were dismissed against Perkula, per court records.
The investigation began on April 8, 2024, when Montgomery Township Police met with members of the MTBSA board regarding multiple questionable transactions made by Pekula, authorities said.
The discrepancies were discovered when a new person took over as the organization’s vice president of finance in October 2023. The organization shared documents including bank records, spreadsheets and expenditures from 2016 through October 2023, investigators said.
Police and Montgomery County detectives began a joint investigation into the alleged theft and illegal business practices.
Through analysis of MTBSA bank records, Pekula’s personal bank records, interviews and MTBSA Board meeting minutes, the investigation found that Pekula defrauded MTBSA of a total of $43,700.80.
Pekula committed the fraudulent activities through cash withdrawals, false self-reimbursements and false claims made about the office’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) COVID-relief loan during his time as the organization’s vice president of finance.
In reviewing all of these financial records, detectives found multiple discrepancies where Pekula allegedly was purchasing equipment, uniforms, trainings and other expenses for the nonprofit using the company card, but then reimbursing the charges to himself, as if he had paid with his personal credit card.
The investigation found that once the federal EIDL COVID-relief loan of $25,900 was received in June 2020 and deposited into the organization's bank account, Pekula made 17 cash withdrawals from June 27, 2020 to July 19, 2021, totaling $57,576, police said.
Two of the 17 withdrawals were determined to be for legitimate expenses incurred by the MTBSA, leaving $39,800 that was withdrawn as cash by Pekula and used for his own personal benefit, authorities said.
In reviewing the Amazon purchases, the accounts reflected that in some instances, he reimbursed himself for more than the actual expense he had put on his personal credit card or “reimbursed” himself for a payment that was made with the non-profit’s credit card.
These payments totaled $3,900.80. Combined with the cash withdrawals, the total alleged theft amount by Pekula was $43,700.80.
Pekula had led organization officials to believe that the $25,900 loan had been repaid, when it had not, leaving the non-profit still liable for the repayment of the loan, according to the complaint.
“Parents work hard to support non-profit sports organizations like this one in order to provide their children with the many learning opportunities that come from being on a team and playing sports. This group also obtained much-needed federal funding to stay afloat during Covid,” said Steele in the wake of Pekula's arrest. “The nonprofit’s ability to provide services were placed in jeopardy due to Pekula‘s actions. This is a sad reminder that financial controls are crucial for all organizations."
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christian Taffe. Pekula retained Norristown defense attorney Thomas Egan III. He is free on $25,000 unsecured bail ahead of sentencing.
Pekula received a bachelor's in accounting from La Salle University. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a board member and treasurer at The Conservatory.
Pekula was terminated from his job at Horsham-based Kreischer Miller after he was charged by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
