PAW PAW – A former Paw Paw Public Schools employee faces charges of wire fraud in ex-cess of $20,000, according to a press release from the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office.
Van Buren County Sheriff Daniel Abbott said that in November 2024, the Portage Police Department investigated a fraud complaint after Child Care Resources reported several unau-thorized transactions from their bank account. A detailed investigation revealed that over $27,000 had been used to pay bills for Danielle Taylor, 34, a Lawrence area resident.
While Taylor worked for the Cedar Street location of Paw Paw Public Schools, part of her job involved opening mail, which sometimes contained checks from childcare resources. Sheriff Abbott said she was then able to obtain the checking account and routing numbers and made several online transactions to allegedly pay for her vehicle insurance and mortgage. When detec-tives spoke with Taylor, she confirmed that she worked for Paw Paw Public Schools at the Cedar Street location and that her duties included sorting mail, which often required her to open enve-lopes containing checks.
Sheriff Abbott said Taylor had previously been convicted in Kalamazoo County for similar offenses. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and she is currently lodged at the Van Buren County Jail. A significant bond amount is being requested.
