A Woodbury man is accused of stealing more than $80,000 over the past three years from the St. Paul School District by diverting the district's payments to Xcel Energy into his personal Xcel account and then asking the utility company for large refund checks.
James A. Elwood, 63, was charged Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court with theft of public funds, a felony.
Elwood, an assistant accounting tech at the school district, is on paid administrative leave, a schools spokeswoman said.
According to the charges, Xcel Energy started an investigation last month after Elwood asked for a refund of $18,980 from a credit balance of $19,669 on his residential account.
The utility company found that the credit balance, as well as regular monthly payments to Elwood's account, had been made using money from the school district.
Further investigation by Xcel, the state auditor's office and St. Paul police found that from Jan. 1, 2006, through last month, the school district's accounting office had asked its business office to issue one and sometimes two large checks to cover the energy bills for the district's 50-plus properties.
Elwood is alleged to have altered documents to divert the school district's money into his own Xcel account. The complaint said when his personal account had a credit balance of $3,386.29, he asked Xcel in April 2007 for the first refund check of $3,000. He asked for nine additional refunds totaling of $43,000 between July 2007 and July 2009. When he tried to get yet another refund in August, the investigation began. He is alleged to also have used nearly $16,000 to pay his own Xcel Energy bills.
Elwood made his first appearance Tuesday before District Judge William Leary and was released on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6.
