Former Finance Director Christopher Gehris was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $94,613 in restitution for embezzling student activity funds over six years while in a position of financial trust.

Phoenixville Area School District — Finance Director Embezzlement of Student Activity Funds (2013–2019)

Outcome: Christopher Gehris, the district's Director of Finance, was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison and ordered to repay $94,613 stolen from student activity accounts over a six-year period, with concealment accomplished through altered receipts and falsified board reports.

Christopher Gehris, 47, began his career at the Phoenixville Area School District (PASD) in 2006 as a controller in the Business Office. He was promoted to Business Manager and eventually appointed Director of Finance in 2018 — a position that gave him broad authority over the district's financial records and accounts. Between 2013 and 2019, Gehris exploited that authority to steal approximately $94,613 from the district's student activity funds.

Gehris employed multiple theft techniques. He cashed checks made payable to himself and to "cash," received checks and direct deposits into his personal checking account labeled as "start-up money" for student activities, stole cash from school programs, and used district funds to purchase gift cards for personal expenditures. He concealed the thefts by altering receipts and falsifying the financial reports he submitted to the Board of School Directors — the very oversight body responsible for catching misconduct of this type.

Federal prosecutors charged Gehris with embezzlement from a program receiving federal funding. He pleaded guilty in February 2022. In May 2022, U.S. District Court Judge sentenced him to one year and two months in prison, three years of supervised release, and full restitution of over $94,000.

The case is a textbook example of unchecked insider access: a long-tenured finance official with both the authority to authorize payments and the responsibility to report to the board, with no independent review of the reports he was submitting. Small student activity accounts — often funded by fundraisers, ticket sales, and donations — are chronic embezzlement targets because internal controls are lighter than on general fund accounts.

Primary Source: Former Phoenixville-Area School District Finance Director Sentenced to Over One Year in Prison For Embezzling District Funds | DOJ