High school teacher allegedly took close to $60,000 from Ottawa Valley hockey association | CBC News

Wanda Malone, a local high school teacher, allegedly took nearly $60,000 from an Ottawa Valley hockey association, according to court documents. 

Malone, 46, was arrested Aug. 16 by Killaloe Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and charged with fraud over $5,000, money laundering, forgery and the use of a forged document, according to a Monday news release. 

While police didn’t name the hockey association directly, court documents obtained by CBC News show Malone allegedly defrauded the Barry’s Bay and Area Minor Hockey Association of more than $58,000 between June 2020 and April 2022. 

On Wednesday, the association declined to comment about its former treasurer, but last Friday it sent a letter to families on Friday saying a former member had been charged. 

Malone’s LinkedIn profile describes her as a teacher, rugby referee and coach, and longtime employee of the Ottawa Catholic School Board. OPP said she’s lives in a rural area west of the city.

She may have taken money from other community sports groups, too.

A leaked email sent to CBC News shows Malone apologized to the Eastern Ontario Rugby Union for taking $12,000 from its accounts. The president of that group has filed a report with the Ottawa Police Service, although charges haven’t been laid. 

“Please know that my actions were in no way malicious,” Malone wrote in her resignation to the union back in March. “For many years I have been in a precarious financial situation, living paycheque to paycheque.”

Malone said she intended to repay the money — initially using it for a mortgage payment or paying a bill — but soon found herself further behind. 

Malone also worked for referees society 

Another email from March, sent to CBC News on Wednesday, indicates she sent a similar resignation to the Eastern Ontario Rugby Referees Society, apologizing for taking approximately $15,000 from it over two years.

Malone worked for the group for seven years, including time as treasurer.   

“I admit to all wrongdoing,” she wrote in that resignation. 

“I acted alone.” 

The referee society’s president, Mark Doyle, couldn’t be reached for comment on Wednesday, but in a letter to the society’s members and board sent on March 28, Doyle wrote the society’s bank balance was under $50. 

Malone couldn’t be reached for comment on Wednesday.