Santa Rosa woman accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from Cotati-Rohnert Park graduation party fund

A large-scale graduation celebration organized for Cotati-Rohnert Park area high schools by Project Graduation is suddenly without funding after the nonprofit’s treasurer was arrested on suspicion of embezzling thousands of dollars from the group, Rohnert Park police said Thursday.

Mary David, 37, of Santa Rosa, who had served as the nonprofit’s volunteer treasurer since 2014, was arrested at her Todd Road home in Santa Rosa about 8 p.m. Thursday, accused of writing herself checks from the account and not depositing money raised at fundraising events, according to a police news release. During an interview with police, David admitted to taking the money for personal use and told officers the funds were unrecoverable, the release said.

She was taken to Sonoma County Jail on a $380,000 bond.

“I’m shocked and in disbelief,” said Kathy Robinson, president of Cotati-Rohnert Park Project Graduation. “For the most part, I just feel sorry these kids have to deal with this at the end of the school year.”

The all-night party, which Project Graduation organizes and raises money for annually, is planned for June 2 at Rohnert Park’s Callinan Sports & Fitness Center, according to the nonprofit’s website. The party runs from 9:30 p.m. until 5 a.m., and graduates from Rancho Cotate, Technology, El Camino, Phoenix and Credo high schools are set to attend. Robinson said Project Graduation is moving forward with plans despite David’s arrest. A new donation link will be added soon to its website, crpprojectgrad.org, she said.

Almost 300 of the estimated 450 graduating students from the various high schools attend the event each year.

“We’re making plans to make sure we go forward,” Robinson said. “It’s very important to us, and the kids, that they have this party that they’ve been looking forward to.”

The missing funds first came to the attention of Project Graduation at the end of March, when a check written from its account was returned as a result of insufficient funds. Until then, according to David’s updates at meetings, organizers ?believed the account contained more than $50,000. When organizers contacted David about the bounced check, she told them it was the bank’s mistake but refused to help them access the account information, the release said. Robinson declined to discuss what the check was intended for.

Robinson contacted police about the missing funds April 8 after gaining access to the bank account and discovering its negative balance. She said it was unclear exactly how much money is missing or what it was spent on.

Robert Hayley, superintendent of the Rohnert Park-Cotati Unified School District, said the volunteer organization had for decades organized a graduation night party for students in the area.

“I’m clearly upset, as any involved community member would be, about the potential impact on the opportunity for our graduates to have a safe and sober graduation,” he said. “There’s disappointment that we would have somebody in the community that would take funding away from a very important event - giving our graduates an opportunity to have a memory that will last for the rest of lives.

“I think it’s also a reminder that serving on a community organization board is a very serious responsibility, and we need to ensure accountability .?.?. to ensure good checks and balances are in place.”

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com.