Former Penn-Delco VP faces new theft charges

When the former vice president of the Penn-Delco School Board was slapped with an embezzlement rap in May 2009, he hired a forensic accountant to whip up a report that he hoped would convince detectives that he hadn't ripped off the high school's booster club.

John Green might have even thought it had worked when Delaware County authorities dropped the theft charges in February.

Turns out they just needed time to chase down all the new leads in his report.

Yesterday, county District Attorney G. Michael Green (no relation to the defendant) refiled charges against Green, 48, of Brookhaven, alleging that for years he'd been using the Sun Valley Sportsters Club account as an extension of his personal bank account.

The "intentionally misleading" forensic-accounting report "became a roadmap to these charges," the district attorney said as Green awaited arraignment on misdemeanor and felony counts of theft, receiving stolen property and forgery.

Prosecutors say that Green - who pleaded no contest in 2007 to engaging in a felony conflict of interest on the school board - deposited dozens of checks from the booster club into his own account while serving as the club's treasurer. The checks, including one made out to his daughter, totaled nearly $22,000.

Female athletes at Sun Valley High School pay fees to belong to Sun Valley Sportsters, which holds a banquet and awards ceremony for members at the end of the school year.

"John Green used the Sun Valley Sportsters Club essentially to subsidize his personal expenses," the district attorney said. "He abused the trust placed in him by the Penn-Delco School District and the young athletes who are members of that sportsters club."

Green's attorney, Michael F.X. Gillin, has previously said that the checks were only reimbursement for money Green had advanced to the club. But authorities allege that the forensic-accounting report contained phony invoices, an apparently nonexistent company and personal expenditures disguised as club-related expenditures.

Gillin declined to comment yesterday, as did Green when he was led out of the Media courthouse in handcuffs.

In 2007, the Daily News reported that Green had falsified financial-disclosure forms while serving on the school board and working for a company paid by the district. Last year, the state Ethics Commission found that to be a violation of the ethics act.

"He's a piece of work," said Anthony Ruggieri, who took over as Penn-Delco's board president in December 2007, after the district was rocked by a scandal. "I'm glad that justice has prevailed, and now the district is able to put this behind us and move forward."

In addition to Green's arrest in 2007, former board president Keith Crego and former superintendent Leslye Abrutyn were convicted on corruption charges.

Crego, who had served as vice chairman of the Aston Republican Party, also pleaded guilty to racketeering, witness intimidation, possession of steroids and other crimes. He resigned from the school board in 2006 amid a sex scandal involving another board member.

"We've cleaned everything up," Ruggieri said, "and we're going to ensure that none of this corruption happens again."