Livonia soccer club co-treasurer charged with embezzlement

The former co-treasurer of the Livonia City Soccer Club was arraigned Monday on a charge he embezzled more than $100,000 from the nonprofit organization, Lt. Greg Winn of the Livonia Police Department said.

Brian Patrick Molloy, 40, of Farmington stood mute to the charge and Magistrate James Jolly entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf during his arraignment in 16th District Court.Molloy was released on a $25,000 personal bond. A preliminary examination was set for Oct. 14 before Judge Sean P. Kavanagh.Winn said the embezzlement appears to have gone on over about two years. “We’re still going over bank records,” he said, adding the investigation is continuing and investigators are working on recovering the money.
The Livonia City Soccer Club has about 1,000 youth players. The organization was formed in June 2008, when the former Livonia Meteors Soccer Club and the former Livonia Soccer Club merged. Molloy had been affiliated with the Livonia Soccer Club.The board of the Livonia City Soccer Club met Monday night and formally removed Molloy from the organization, LCSC spokesman Joe Bauman said.Bauman said the embezzlement has not impacted the business operations of the organization.The organization also issued the following statement: “In the past few weeks, the club became aware of suspected embezzlement activity regarding our bank accounts. It appeared an unknown individual or individuals had gained access to our bank accounts and were able to fraudulently remove funds out of those accounts. The suspected fraudulent activity was discovered as part of a routine examination of club bank statements.“Immediately upon discovering the suspicious activity, club officers contacted bank authorities, who in turn alerted their fraud prevention unit.”The statement went on to say club officials worked closely with police and fraud investigators to identify the individual responsible for the fraudulent activity.Because the investigation is ongoing, the Livonia Police Department instructed the club not to discuss details regarding the case.“We will share additional information regarding the matter as soon as we are permitted by the police department,” the statement said. “It is important to note that the club is working with police and bank officials to identify and implement additional measures to safeguard club funds and prevent this type of regrettable incident from ever happening again. “We will continue to update our club families as more information becomes available. In the meantime, rest assured the club is committed to providing the outstanding soccer experience our players and families have come to expect.”