Lake Oswego, Oregon parent, sport clubs embezzled for $84K

A woman who kept the books for a Lake Oswego parent group and two sports clubs was arrested Thursday on accusations of embezzlement.




Ranae Marlee Mason, 45, was accused of five counts of first-degree aggravated theft and one count of first-degree theft, said Lt. Doug Treat.



She was taken into custody after she was interviewed Thursday by Lake Oswego police, Treat said.



Mason reportedly said she was a certified public accountant as she volunteered to be treasurer for the Lake Oswego Junior Baseball organization, the Lake Oswego Youth Football League and the Lake Oswego Junior High School's parent-teacher association, Treat said.



Police believe she embezzled about $84,000 from accounts for those three groups into her personal bank accounts, Treat said.



The baseball group noticed irregularities and audited their books, noting that $5,000 was missing. That led to the other two groups reviewing their accounts. The football league was missing $51,000 and the parents club $30,000, Treat said.



Mason told police in the interview that she is not a CPA, and that she acted alone. She said the motive for the embezzlement was triggered by her unemployment a year ago. She reportedly used the money for living expenses.



Youth Football volunteer Chris Casebeer said “It is always unfortunate when something like this happens in a community. Lake Oswego Youth Football is cooperating with authorities to recover any money that belongs to our organization”