Former Staunton School Board chair indicted on charges of embezzlement, money laundering
STAUNTON – A former Staunton City School Board chair has been indicted on charges of embezzlement and money laundering following a lengthy police probe.
It was first reported in April by The News Leader that Natasha McCurdy, 38, was under investigation by the Staunton Police Department. The Staunton grand jury indicted McCurdy, along with her twin sister, Felecia Neil, on Tuesday. Neil is facing identical charges.
The Staunton Police Department began investigating the pair in early 2024 following reports of suspicious financial transactions concerning the bank account of the A.R. Ware Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), according to an affidavit for a search warrant. Neil was the group’s treasurer.
Based on the affidavit, members learned the group’s insurance policy was about to lapse, “which originally raised concerns.” This led the PTA and Staunton City School staff to assume that Neil wasn’t making the payments. Police spoke to PTA members, the affidavit said, and were told Neil hadn’t been completing financial reports each month as was the policy.
In February 2024, the PTA checked the bank account and discovered the balance was just $81. “According to Felicia’s latest verbal report, there was supposed to be around $10,000 in the account,” the affidavit said.
First report: Staunton City School Board chair, sister, under investigation after PTA cash goes missing
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PTA members told police Neil had avoided the PTA’s monthly meetings to discuss budgets and other relevant information, and failed to provide pertinent information for several months.
“Even when Felicia was unable attend the meetings, they would ask her to provide a physical copy of the treasurer’s financial report for each month,” the affidavit said. “Felicia last provided a physical copy of the treasurer’s financial report in September of 2023. She did, however, provide monthly verbal reports to the PTA.”
When the PTA reviewed the account’s transaction history, some of the transactions “appeared to be for personal benefit,” the affidavit said.
Police said Neil became PTA treasurer after McCurdy, who was already on the school board at the time, first showed interest in the position even though she didn’t have a child attending Ware. After McCurdy’s interest was spurned, she became “irritated” and nominated her sister, according to police.
“It should be noted that Felicia was not even present for the nomination,” the affidavit said.
PTA members also told police about a February 2024 conversation where they tried to get Neil to attend an emergency session to discuss the finances. Neil reportedly became defensive, the affidavit said, and “quickly” deposited $5,048 into the PTA account.
“From my training and experience,” an officer wrote in the affidavit, “it appears as if Felicia began to recognize that other members of the PTA were beginning to realize that money is missing from the account, and in order to make the payment for the insurance that was preparing to lapse, Felicia needed to put money back in the account.”
Police pulled receipts from Walmart purchases allegedly made by Neil. Many purchases were for the PTA, but police said in the affidavit many were not. Items listed included dog food, Guinea pig food, bottles of soda, energy drinks, printer ink, various toys and a clock.
The affidavit said the sisters own Queen City Games & Gifts in downtown Staunton, selling items “which ironically match the toys that were being purchased with PTA money.”
Police said Neil was approved by the PTA to spend $2,000 for an event called “Santa Shop,” but said she reportedly exceeded the amount “by thousands.” Authorities also noted toys that were purchased for the PTA and located on the receipts matched some of the toys found in the store. Police then conducted a controlled purchase of toys at the store.
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Questioned last year by police, Neil said she didn’t use the PTA cash for her own benefit but admitted to buying soda and printer ink for herself, according to the affidavit. Neil also said she had some toys for the PTA stored in her vehicle and her home. But after police checked her vehicle and residence, they met her and McCurdy at their downtown store, where the twins told police there were several boxes in the back of the business that also contained toys for the PTA.
“It should be noted that Felicia admitted that there were toys in her car, and her residence, but did not tell me they were in the business,” the officer said in the affidavit. Police seized the toys and took them back to Ware.
While at Neil’s Staunton home, police also spotted a clock on her wall that allegedly matched the same clock found earlier on the Walmart receipt. Several toys were also found in her basement that were reportedly for the Christmas event at Ware, the affidavit said.
Police were given a binder and a safe by Neil. As the contents were probed, they found a receipt for toys that were bought in March 2023 before the twins had any role with the Ware PTA. Neil claimed she bought them, but McCurdy said she had them removed from the Ware basement after it flooded. Police said the last flood at Ware was in 2019.
At this point in the investigation, according to the affidavit, police suspected the twins of using PTA money to buy items for their store and for personal benefit. After reviewing financial accounts from three separate banks, authorities reportedly came across “several inconsistencies,” including a PTA check written by McCurdy to Neil in October 2023 for $1,200. That same day, a deposit in that exact amount was made to the account of Queen City Games & Gifts, the affidavit said. Three months later in January 2024, police said McCurdy wrote Neil a $1,500 check and said the same amount was again given to the store on the same day.
In April, McCurdy told The News Leader in a text that she was aware of the allegations and was cooperating with police. “The records will show that I have not done anything wrong,” she said in the text. “I look forward to being cleared of any wrongdoing. Beyond that I will not comment on an ongoing investigation.”
McCurdy was elected to the school board during a special election in 2018 and was re-elected for a four-year term in 2020. She became chair in 2022 before resigning in April, several days after news of the police investigation was reported.
Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at [email protected]. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Felony charges filed against ex-Staunton School Board chair, sister
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