TAMPA, Fla. – Rosa Harwell, a 47-year-old math teacher at Tampa Preparatory School, has been charged with embezzling nearly $75,000 from her second job at Alessi Bakery over the past five years.
The Tampa Police Department’s investigation began after Alessi Bakery noticed an unusually high number of cash refunds on the days Harwell worked weekend shifts. The bakery’s review of surveillance footage from six separate shifts in January and February 2025 revealed that Harwell was manipulating the point-of-sale system to create “fraudulent and excessive” cash refunds. These actions were aimed at lowering the amount of cash expected to be deposited into the bakery’s accounting system.
Further audits uncovered over 500 such transactions between March 2020 and February 2025, amounting to a total of $74,520.97. Investigators found that Harwell had paid herself cash under the pretense of being owed money for tutoring services she had provided in 2019, despite having already been fully compensated. The bakery had not authorized Harwell to take money from its cash register.
Harwell now faces 50 charges of false entries into business records and one count of felony grand theft. She is currently being held without bond at the Hillsborough County Jail.
In response to the news, Tampa Preparatory School issued a statement saying, “We are very disappointed to learn this morning that a Tampa Preparatory School mathematics teacher was arrested yesterday and is facing significant criminal allegations of financial fraud. These allegations have arisen from her outside employment with Tampa Prep, and we have made the decision to terminate this teacher’s employment. Any further inquiries should be directed to law enforcement.”
