HARRISBURG -- Darla LaValle, wife of state Sen. Gerald LaValle, was charged with 10 counts of theft today for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the Voluntary Action Center of Beaver County where she previously served as executive director.
Darla LaValle, 68, of Rochester allegedly inflated her own salary and denied employees' pension benefits at the nonprofit agency that assists low-income residents through donations of clothing, furniture and toys, according to a statewide grand jury presentment.
Attorney General Tom Corbett filed the charges against Darla LaValle this morning at a magistrate's office in Ambridge. She faces an Aug. 21 preliminary hearing at the Beaver County Courthouse. Darla LaValle, who was in complete control of paying bills and payroll, was paid $122,000 in 2006 and an additional $23,296 through March, 2007 when she retired, according to the grand jury.
The Tribune-Review last September revealed that Voluntary Action Center paid Darla LaValle $619,000 in salary and benefits over eight years during which the tiny nonprofit's income was $1.6 million, nearly half of which came from state grants.
In 2001, when her salary was $78,000, the United Way cuts its funding to the non-profit in half because of the size of Darla LaValle's salary, the attorney general's office said. The three-member staff of Voluntary Action included LaValle and her sister, a secretary.
An official of United Way told the grand jury he was "stunned" at Darla LaValle's salary, which should have been in the $40,000 range for a nonprofit that size.
By 2004, based on "continuing suspicions" the United Way reduced its funding to Voluntary Action to $12,000, which represented a 70 percent cut over four years, Corbett's office said in a news release.
Instead of addressing United Ways concerns, Darla LaValle recommended the nonprofit withdraw from United Way. She allegedly told board members it wasn't worth filling out the paperwork to keep getting United Way funding.
Corbett said by withdrawing from United Way LaValle cleared the way to pay herself as she wished.
The grand jury found that in 2005 the center began relying on credit and faced serious financial problems.
From 1993-2007, Darla LaValle allegedly misappropriated and contributed $30,000 more to her pension plan than she was entitled, the grand jury alleged.
Gerald LaValle, an institution in Beaver County politics for three decades, is not running for re-election.
Darla LaValle repaid $91,324 to Voluntary Action on Aug. 21, 2007. That payment "failed to restore the total sums stolen," the grand jury said.
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