PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Federal agents have arrested a former charter school executive accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a North Philadelphia school, ending a years-long search that began with a 2020 indictment.
The U.S. Marshals Service announced that 52-year-old Darnell Smith was taken into custody this week by federal agents and investigators from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Smith, who once served as Chief Financial Officer of Khepera Charter School, is accused of stealing more than $300,000 in school funds between 2015 and 2017.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Smith allegedly diverted public money meant for education into personal accounts and unauthorized expenditures. The charges against him include theft by deception and related financial crimes stemming from what investigators described as a “sustained pattern of misuse of public funds.”
Khepera Charter School, which closed several years ago amid financial turmoil, was the subject of multiple state audits and investigations into its spending practices. Officials said Smith’s alleged conduct contributed to the school’s collapse and the loss of significant taxpayer dollars.
Authorities did not specify where Smith was apprehended but confirmed that he was taken into custody without incident and will face extradition proceedings in Pennsylvania.
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Key Points:
- Former Khepera Charter School CFO Darnell Smith arrested by U.S. Marshals in Philadelphia.
- Smith allegedly embezzled over $300,000 from the school between 2015 and 2017.
- He faces theft by deception and related charges from a 2020 Pennsylvania indictment.
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