District in suburban Philadelphia victimized by ghost payrollers and equipment theft

Investigations of corruption in the Bensalem Township (Pa.) School District have resulted in 20 arrests, including several district employees. The Phildelphia Inquirer says court documents describe two schemes, one of which ran for more than a decade. The first involved ghost employees on the district's groundskeeping crew. Shannon Dyer, 39, and Tony Ruggerio, 28, received full paychecks and "an excessive amount of overtime" but were almost never seen at work, prosecutors allege. Dyer's husband, Joseph, 43, was the department's foreman. Total loss to the township: about $207,000. Both of the Dyers and Ruggerio were charged with theft by deception and criminal conspiracy. The school district's facilities manager, Robert Mosely, 61, has been charged with theft by deception and misapplication of government property. He allegedly signed the time card and payroll records of the two ghost employees. The second investigation turned up the theft of nearly $1 million in vehicles, tires and auto parts from the district's garage, according to the court documents.