CPS high school payroll clerk pocketed money after she cashed phony checks

A payroll clerk at the state's top high school was charged with theft for forging time sheets and pocketing money she got from cashing checks belonging to students believed to be in a work study program.
Maha Shahwan, 47, a clerk at North Side College Prep High School, a Chicago Public School on the North Side, was charged with felony theft and appeared in court this morning and ordered held on $15,000 bail.
As payroll clerk, Shahwan's duties included submitting time sheets for students enrolled in a work study program.
For three months, beginning in March 2010, she put in time sheets for students who were no longer participating in the program.
One of those students had graduated from the school and was attending college. Another phony claim was for a student who had moved out of the country. Shahwan would process the time sheets, cash the checks and pocket the money.
The scheme was uncovered when several of the students, whose names were used without their knowledge, received W-2 forms and then contacted the school.
Shortly after, an investigation revealed that three checks were deposited into Shahwan's bank account.
The rest of the checks were cashed at her bank, and her signature and back account number were on those checks.