The bookkeeper for a private school in Lone Tree brazenly used hundreds of thousands of school funds to make 800 purchases on Amazon, vacation in Cabo San Lucas, pay off credit card debts, add a hot tub to her home, and buy a ranch, according to that school.
The Montessori School at Lone Tree, which opened in 1985, says it has “spent hundreds of hours attempting to identify the extent of the theft,” a process that is ongoing. “The school’s business processes, records, facilities and reputation have suffered significant damage.”
The school educates children ages 2 to 6. The Montessori method, named for an Italian doctor in the early 20th century, prioritizes hands-on learning over grades or tests.
Between 2017 and 2023, the school’s business manager and bookkeeper was Melissa Graham of Highlands Ranch, according to a lawsuit the school filed March 3. That lawsuit alleges a long and multifaceted embezzlement scheme by Graham that came to involve her husband and daughter and reportedly cost the south metro school more than $300,000.
It allegedly included paying herself and another employee $135,000 in bonuses from a Paycheck Protection Program loan and grants, paying $70,000 in personal credit card bills, 818 orders on Amazon totaling $55,000, an additional $35,000 in home improvements, $13,000 for rent at her and her husband’s preschool business, and $5,000 for her daughter’s wedding.
Her husband, Doug, wrote himself $6,600 in checks from the school’s checkbook and the couple used school funds “to make a substantial down payment” on a $760,000 ranch in Wellington for their daughter Lauren Conyers and her horse boarding business, according to the school.
The down payment amount is not listed. Conyers and Doug Graham are also being sued.
Melissa Graham, who is now finance director at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, did not answer a request for comment. Nor did her husband. Her daughter declined to comment. Through lawyers, the school declined to discuss its case and whether it fired Graham.
Its lawsuit, filed in Larimer County because the Wellington ranch is there, claims Melissa Graham also tried “depositing $250,000 of the school’s funds into her personal bank account,” but that money was “returned after confrontation.” It alleges that she “deleted her company emails and removed the hard drive from a company computer” upon leaving.
It is suing for theft, fraud, unjust enrichment and breach of fiduciary duty. Its lawyers are Kevin Ward, Cassie Williams and Rick Rivera at Wick & Trautwein in Fort Collins.
Read more from our partner, .
