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SCRANTON, PA – Karen McGinnis, 46, of Mountain Top, will spend the next 20 months in federal prison after admitting she pilfered over $400,000 from Fairview Township taxpayers. U.S. District Judge Karoline Mehalchick handed down the sentence yesterday, closing the book on a brazen scheme that ran from March 2023 to January 2025.
McGinnis, as Fairview Township’s elected tax collector, had a simple job: collect property taxes and pass them on to the township, Luzerne County, and the Crestwood School District. Instead, she treated the account like her personal slush fund, writing herself checks totaling over $400,000. The feds say she used the stolen money for personal expenses.
The scheme was eventually uncovered, and while McGinnis managed to quietly slip about $40,000 back into the accounts before getting caught, she still owes $367,088.35 to her victims. Judge Mehalchick ordered full restitution, and McGinnis will also face three years of supervised release after she gets out.
Federal investigators with the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division pieced together the complex financial trail, highlighting the need for expert forensic accounting in these types of cases. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle A. Moreno handled the prosecution.