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Fired head of LaSalle's food services charged with stealing $5million

The former head of La Salle University's food services was charged Tuesday with stealing $5 million from the school in a scheme dating back 20 years.

The former head of La Salle University's food services was charged Tuesday with stealing $5 million from the school in a scheme dating back 20 years.

Stephen Greb, 58, surrendered Tuesday morning at the District Attorney's Office to face theft, forgery, and other charges.

The university discovered that the money was missing this summer and fired Greb, an employee for 26 years. The two sides have since reached a restitution agreement, with the university making a "substantial recovery" of the lost funds, according to a La Salle statement.

Joseph Donovan, a spokesman for the university, said he did not know the exact amount that La Salle had recovered.

Greb, who was hired in 1984 as director of food services, is accused of setting up a fictitious food vendor called Sunshine Foods and then authorizing payments to that vendor as far back as 1990.

Greb was made director of auxiliary services in 2006, but continued to oversee the university's food services. He also was in charge of on-campus catering, mail distribution, printing, and the campus store.

The university discovered the fraud earlier this year "through enhanced accounting controls," and conducted an internal investigation with the help of a forensic accountant.

The university determined that Greb was responsible for the missing money and that he "acted alone," according to La Salle's statement.

Greb, of Blue Bell, was fired in June, and the university referred the matter to the District Attorney's Office. The restitution agreement was reached in July, the school said.

Prosecutors said Greb stole $5 million from La Salle, a private Catholic school of 7,000 students, but did not break down the amounts over the years.

La Salle officials became suspicious after instituting tighter accounting controls and questioning a $40,000 payment to Sunshine Foods.

Donovan said he could not comment on the case beyond the university's statement, due to the criminal case and the confidentiality provisions of the restitution agreement.

"We have confidence in the judicial system and have every reason to believe that appropriate justice will be done," the statement said.