Former accountant charged with stealing thousands from Hmong charter school last year

A man is charged via summons with theft by swindle after colleagues found that he transferred $42,500 from a charter school in Brooklyn Park into his own account and tried to transfer another $100,000 before he was caught.

Michael Edward Pocrnich, 43, of Shakopee, is named in a Ramsey County criminal complaint that accuses him of a felony-level theft that happened in February 2022.

The accounting firm, The Anton Group, was owned by four people, with Pocrnich owning 36% of the company “at relevant times,” according to court documents.

The criminal complaint said police got the report on March 25 about Pocrnich transferring $42,500 from the account of their client, Noble Academy, to an old account that was under the exclusive control of Pocrnich.

Noble Academy is a charter school in Brooklyn Park that serves Hmong students between the ages of 5 and 14.

One of the firm’s partners discovered the theft when a staff accountant assigned to the account for Noble Academy requested a copy of an invoice for a $106,071.48 transaction by Pocrnich that was coded as “accounting fees” for extra work. The high cost made the partner suspicious, according to the complaint.

That partner then searched but could not find the $106,071.48 transaction, and when he questioned Pocrnich about it, Pocrnich allegedly claimed it was a mistake and said the money would be transferred back. When the partner found a third-party intermediary used to make the transfers and confronted Pocrnich about it, he admitted to taking the money for personal use.

The complaint states that Pocrnich then offered to split the money with the partner if they didn’t tell anyone about the theft. That partner declined.

Later, the partners met and decided to remove Pocrnich as company president and contacted the police. The firm then dissolved in August 2022.

When the St. Paul Police Department launched its own investigation, court records say officers found four different bank accounts used to perpetuate the fraud.

Investigators report finding records that matched the monetary differences in accounts controlled by Pocrnich and the Noble Academy operating account, including the attempted $106,071.48 that was flagged as fraudulent and voided.

The $42,5000 was found to have been transferred on Feb. 2 and 3 through the third-party intermediary.

The complaint states that when the partners removed Pocrnich from the board and gained access to one of the accounts, they were able to recuperate $30,500 of the $42,500 taken from Noble Academy. Pocrnich then repaid the firm $12,000 and the total was repaid to Noble Academy in May 2022.

Court documents say that Pocrnich begged the partners to not turn him in to authorities.

Pocrnich signed a consent order with the Minnesota Board of Accountancy on May 4 that revoked his Certified Practicing Accounting certificate for five years.