Wanda Malone, 46, was arrested Aug. 16 by the Killaloe Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and charged with fraud over $5,000, money laundering, forgery and using a false document, according to an OPP press release issued Monday. Her LinkedIn profile describes her as a teacher, referee and rugby coach and a long-time employee of the Ottawa Catholic School Board. The OPP said he lives in Brudenell, Lyndoch and Raglan Township, a rural area west of Ottawa. In May 2021, Sacred Heart Catholic High School in the western Ottawa suburb of Stittsville called Malone a “charismatic teacher whose energy and commitment are contagious.” In a tweet the school called her “passionate about the power of sports” to change students’ lives “for the better” and that she “tirelessly devotes time and energy to supporting her students outside of the classroom.” Her LinkedIn profile describes her as a teacher, referee and coach. But despite her dedication to the sport – and help managing the finances of three organizations – some are crying foul. Tonight, Ms. Wanda Malone will be recognized as one of this year’s OCSB Director of Education Commendation Award winners. Congratulations Ms. Malone! We are blessed to have you as part of our community. pic.twitter.com/w5HrfcS8dW —@SacredHeartOCSB Barry’s Bay and Area Minor Hockey Association (BBAMHA) in the Township of Madawaska Valley, where Malone served as treasurer, did not immediately comment on the recent allegations However, an Aug. 19 letter forwarded to CBC News from the hockey association told the families about a legal issue about its finances discovered this spring that had been brought to the OPP’s attention. “The police investigation resulted in the OPP criminally charging a member of our BBAMHA organization,” union president Stephanie Plebon wrote. “This person is no longer a member.” Wanda Malone faces charges of fraud over five thousand dollars, money laundering, forgery and using a forged document, according to an OPP media release. (Wanda Malone/Twitter)

It is not the only organization to allege embezzlement

Dave Beyer, president of the all-volunteer Eastern Ontario Rugby Union where Malone ran the finances for two years, told the CBC his organization lost $12,000 after a longtime and highly trusted executive embezzled funds for two years. An email written by Beyer and sent to the union in March, which was forwarded to CBC by a third party, confirmed that the executive board member was Malone and included her resignation letter. “Please know that my actions were in no way malicious,” Malone wrote in her resignation letter to the union, also sent in March. “For many years I have been in a precarious financial situation, living paycheck to paycheck.” The breach of trust was difficult to detect, Beyer told the CBC, especially because of where the allegedly stolen money came from. “It comes from the young athletes and their parents,” he said in an interview Monday. “[In] Both minor hockey and rugby, not all parents have those resources readily available.” Beyer said he filed a report with the Ottawa Police Service. He also warned a third unnamed organization about its actions, according to the email he wrote and forwarded to the CBC. That email added that all three agencies are conducting “our own processes” and that “there are significant amounts missing from each agency and there are concerns about the remaining working capital for each.”

Malone ‘trying to balance and cover’

In her resignation letter, Malone added that she intends to pay back every cent and that she regrets her actions. “What started out as borrowing to cover my mortgage payment or pay a bill turned into me slowly and deeply,” she wrote. “Now I was trying to break even and catch up. I always intended to pay the money back, but I kept finding myself further behind.” A Wanda Malone is listed on Ontario’s Sunshine List for 2021 as a teacher employed by the Ottawa Catholic School Board, with a salary of $103,636. The Eastern Ontario Rugby Union has a volunteer-based financial task force that has provided a report on what happened and “the necessary steps that need to be taken to properly safeguard the money entrusted to us,” Beyer said. .
In his March email to the union, Beyer wrote that they may feel “betrayal, anger, disbelief,” but that after a while he believed “we’re going to grudgingly accept that this happened, even if we don’t understand why. “I would suggest that one of the first lessons we learn is that many, if not all, of our organizations are vulnerable to actions like these,” he wrote.
The OPP said Malone was released from custody on conditions and will next appear in court on September 14. Multiple attempts to reach her for comment were unsuccessful.