NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An audit finds an employee of New Orleans' second-largest charter school network allegedly embezzled nearly $70,000 in the 2012-13 academic year.

KIPP spokesman Jonathan Bertsch tells The Times-Picayune (http://bit.ly/MHXsE5 ) the money has been recovered, the employee was fired and a criminal investigation is underway.

Short for "Knowledge Is Power Program," KIPP New Orleans educates 3,755 students, or 8 percent of New Orleans' public school enrollment.

The audit says the fired employee worked in the organization's central administration office and took two checks in April 2013 from batches waiting to be sent to vendors.

The theft was discovered when the vendors asked why they hadn't been paid.

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