A former administrative secretary at Rock Creek School is accused of a multi-year theft scheme.
Rebecca Mae Main, 64, of Frederick, was charged Tuesday with 36 counts of falsifying private documents, 36 counts of issuing false documents and two counts of theft.
Between 2020 and 2023, Main allegedly wrote 36 checks to herself and deposited $27,799 from the Rock Creek School Student Activity Fund into her personal bank account, according to charging documents.
Rock Creek School, part of Frederick County Public Schools, provides individualized education programs for students ages 3 to 21 with severe intellectual, physical, emotional, hearing, visual and learning disabilities.
Of the 36 checks, 26 allegedly contained the forged signatures of current and former directors of the school, according to charging documents.
Thirty-five checks were written for between $100 and $1,500, and one check was written for $1,529, the highest amount, according to charging documents.
According to charging documents, Main told investigators on Dec. 10 that she had forged coworkers’ signatures on checks.
Reached by phone Friday evening, Main said she had no comment on the charges.
Eric Louérs-Phillips, a spokesperson for FCPS, said in an email Friday that the school district does not comment on pending legal matters.
Jaqueline Rottmann, spokesperson for the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office, said Friday that the office could not comment because it had not received the charging documents in its database.
Deputy Ralph Kay of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office responded to a possible fraud tip coming from the FCPS central office on Jan. 19, according to charging documents.
He spoke with Revenue Commissioner Heather Clabaugh, who said several checks had been written to Main.
Clabaugh said the checks had the signature of Tracy Jaramillo, who was acting principal at Rock Creek School between November 2023 and June 2024, and that Jaramillo did not remember signing the checks, according to charging documents.
Clabaugh said the checks were supposedly refunds for money Main spent on things for the school, according to the charging documents. She added that FCPS had no record of why the checks were sent, and that receipts were typically included in its records.
Clabaugh told Kay that Main had a documented history of exceeding the reimbursement fee limit, which is up to $100 per purchase, according to the fee documents.
Detective Louis Whitehouse of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office was assigned to the case on January 22 of this year.
After nearly a year of investigation, Whitehouse spoke with Jaramillo; Katie Buckley, Rock Creek School’s principal from 2019 to 2023; and Amanda Keilholtz, the school’s assistant principal since 2023.
Main allegedly forged the signatures of Jaramillo, Buckley and Keilholtz on checks, according to charging documents.
During the investigation, Whitehouse presented Buckley with several memo lines from checks that Main had cashed, according to charging documents. Buckley said she did not know why some memo lines, such as donations or appreciation from faculty and staff, were considered expenses, according to the charging documents.
According to charging documents, Whitehouse could not find a person or evidence that would give Main an explanation for writing one of the refund checks himself.
Charging documents say that when Kay spoke with Clabaugh on Jan. 19, he learned that Main had recently retired as secretary of the Rock Creek School.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 4, 2025 at 12:30 PM in Frederick County District Court.
