Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Montgomery Township Police Chief William R. Peoples announced today the arrest of Christopher Pekula, 49, of North Wales, on multiple felony counts and other charges related to the theft of more than $43,000 from the Montgomery Township Baseball and Softball Association (MTBSA) in Montgomery Township.

Pekula was the vice president of finance at the non-profit organization from October 2018 to October 2023, the District Attorney said.

The investigation began on April 8, 2024, when Montgomery Township Police met with members of the MTBSA board members regarding multiple questionable transactions made by the organizations former Vice President of Finance Christopher Pekula. The discrepancies were discovered when a new person took over as the organization’s vice president of finance in October 2023. The organization shared documents including bank records, spreadsheets and expenditures from 2016 through October 2023.

The Montgomery Township Police and Montgomery County Detective Bureau began a joint investigation into the apparent theft and illegal business practices. Through analysis of MTBSA bank records, Pekula’s personal bank records, interviews and MTBSA Board meeting minutes, the investigation found that Pekula defrauded MTBSA of a total of $43,700.80. The defendant committed the fraudulent activities through cash withdrawals, false self-reimbursements and false claims made about the office’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) COVID-relief loan during his time as the organization’s vice president of finance.

In reviewing all of these financial records, detectives found multiple discrepancies where Pekula was purchasing equipment, uniforms, trainings and other expenses for the non-profit using the company card, but then reimbursing the charges to himself, as if he had paid with his personal credit card.

The investigation found that once the federal EIDL COVID-relief loan of $25,900 was received in June 2020 and deposited into the organizations bank account, Pekula made 17 cash withdrawals from June 27, 2020 to July 19, 2021, totaling $57,576. Two of the 17 withdrawals were determined to be for legitimate expenses incurred by the MTBSA, leaving $39,800 that was withdrawn as cash by Pekula and used for his own personal benefit.

In reviewing the Amazon purchases, the accounts reflected that in some instances, he reimbursed himself for more than the actual expense he had put on his personal credit card or “reimbursed” himself for a payment that was made with the non-profit’s credit card. These payments totaled $3,900.80. Combined with the cash withdrawals, the total theft amount by Pekula was $43,700.80.

In addition, Pekula had led organization officials to believe that the $25,900 loan had been repaid, when it had not, leaving the non-profit still liable for the repayment of the loan.

“Parents work hard to support non-profit sports organizations like this one in order to provide their children with the many learning opportunities that come from being on a team and playing sports. This group also obtained much-needed federal funding to stay afloat during Covid,” said DA Steele. “The nonprofit’s ability to provide services were placed in jeopardy due to Pekula‘s actions. This is a sad reminder that financial controls are crucial for all organizations.”

Pekula is charged with Theft by Unlawful Taking, Theft by Deception and Theft by Failure to Make Required Disposition of Funds Received. He was arraigned February 3 and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 11.

Photo: Montco DA