Showing posts with label Washington D.C.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington D.C.. Show all posts
Monday, January 28, 2013
D.C. charter school founder charged with embezzling $29,000
A co-founder and former executive director of the now-closed Nia Community Public Charter School has been charged with embezzling $29,000 from the school, according to court documents.
Between March and August 2008, then-Nia Executive Director Monique Murdock wrote five checks to her foster child, each ranging between $4,000 and $8,000, using school funds, according to the criminal filing filed this month in U.S. District Court. The checks were then deposited into a savings account that Murdock had created for the child -- who is identified in the documents only as D.N. -- and all but $100 was transferred into other accounts belonging to Murdock.
Though the comments section on one check read "Professional Development" and on another "Educational Consultant Specialist," D.N. told officials that he or she never performed either of these services, nor did the child ever receive any of the funds.
Murdock's attorney, Wanda Dixon, said she had "not been authorized to comment" on the charges.
The charges come as charter schools take on an increasing role in the education of the District's students. Enrollment in charters has grown 60 percent since 2008, with 41 percent of the city's 76,753 public school students now attending the nontraditional campuses. The DC Public Charter School Board expects enrollment to grow by 10 percent next year as DC Public Schools plans to close 15 schools -- 13 in June and two a year later -- because of perennial underenrollment.
Nia Community Public Charter School, in Ward 7, closed in 2011 after the DC Public Charter School Board revoked its charter. The decision was the result of a combination of poor academic performance and poor financial management, but it's not clear the extent to which Murdock's alleged actions contributed to the school's closure.
The Public Charter School Board put Nia on probation in July 2010, "as it appeared to be on the verge of insolvency due to questionable use/misallocation of funds [in 2008] by a former employee," charter board Chairman Brian Jones wrote in a letter to Nia board Chairman Rev. Willie Wilson explaining the history behind the school losing its charter.
"We had financial difficulties continually after [Murdock] was no longer there," Wilson told The Washington Examiner. "If in fact it holds to be
Despite the probation, Nia was ultimately shuttered based on its academic failings, said Public Charter School Board spokeswoman Audrey Williams. Between 2007 and 2010, Nia students' scores in reading proficiency on the DC Comprehensive Assessment System, the District-wide standardized test, dropping from 44 percent proficient to 28 percent.
But corruption and embezzlement are not unique to charter schools.
"Corruption is corruption," said David Pickens, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group DC School Reform Now. "It could happen in a traditional school. It could happen in a private school. It could happen in a charter school."
Friday, November 25, 2011
In crisis, National City Christian Church’s members find strength in Washington D.C.
From Washingtonpost.com
The Rev. Stephen Gentle stood at the pulpit of his historic District church Sunday and urged his congregation to give thanks — for the good and the bad. “We have had to learn to give thanks and praise to God,” Gentle said, “as we have been meeting one challenge after another, after another.”
To Gentle and others at National City Christian Church, the past few years have been a never-ending crisis. Like many downtown churches, it has seen its membership and fundraising dwindle. The church was rocked by a former pastor’s plagiarism in 2003. Then, August’s earthquake caused tens of thousands of dollars in unsightly damage that the church cannot afford to repair.
Worst of all, the congregation’s leaders have had to spend the past three years unwinding an $850,000 embezzlement scam that drained National City’s budget and forced the church to cut back on its ministry and staff.
Some members left the congregation, and others spoke of closing the church’s doors. But a core group refused to quit. Whether it was fixing choir chairs, answering phones, cleaning the sanctuary or pulling weeds and planting flowers on church grounds, dozens of congregants banded together. In some ways, the fallout from the scam has made National City stronger.
“These last few years have been extremely difficult,” Gentle said. “But we have seen the congregation come together like we have not seen in a long, long time.”
National City, the nearly 170-year-old flagship congregation of the 660,000-member Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), routinely drew 800 people to worship on Sundays in the 1950s and 1960s. President James A. Garfield preached from its pulpit, and President Lyndon B. Johnson regularly attended services.But at a recent Sunday service at the majestic church on Thomas Circle, about 125 worshipers, many of them retirees, sat scattered among 62 pews.
The scam only exacerbated National City’s problems. It came just a few years after the congregation was embarrassed by news that its pastor, the Rev. Alvin O’Neil Jackson, had plagiarized sermons delivered by another minister. Jackson left the church and was replaced in early 2006 by Gentle, a soft-spoken pastor of a Florida church. Gentle’s mission, as many members saw it, was to help heal the reeling church.
For a few years, Gentle made progress. But the church was tested again in 2008, when its leaders found discrepancies in financial records. At first, they thought their chief financial officer, Jason T. Reynolds, was simply a bad bookkeeper. Then they realized Reynolds had stolen about $850,000 in church money to buy cars, flat-screen TVs and jewels.
At one point, Reynolds gave Gentle and his sixth-grade son two tickets to a Washington Wizards game. Gentle realized later that Reynolds’s tickets had been financed by his church.
“I was literally sick to my stomach when I realized that,” said Gentle, 51, who would testify at Reynolds’s trial. In August, Reynolds was convicted of 12 fraud-related charges, and Gentle wrote a letter to the federal judge on the eve of sentencing that described the “pain, distrust and financial hardship” that had been inflicted on his church. On Nov. 9, Reynolds was sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
The scheme, which ran from 2002 through 2008, clobbered the church’s finances. Reynolds had covered up his theft by shifting money from one account to another but had left many invoices unpaid. The church was forced to dip into its endowment to pay a $40,000 electric bill or face darkness. It had to cut back on its ministry, including slashing a popular summer-enrichment program for kids. Gentle and church leaders cut the institution’s $2.4 million budget in half. One-third of its 21 workers were laid off.
The church’s endowment, also battered by a bad economy, fell from $8.4 million in 2007 to its current level of $4.8 million.
At meetings, members vented about their next steps, even wondering whether they should shutter the congregation. In the end, members and Gentle say, their choice was obvious: They would not surrender to a crime.
“We felt very strongly that as a church of God, how dare we even think about closing the doors?” said Loretta Tate, the congregation’s lay leader.
Soon after learning that her church was in financial trouble, Kathleen Swihart, a staffer who had looked after elderly and sick parishioners for more than 20 years, approached Gentle — and laid herself off because she knew the church was going to be strapped for money. The same afternoon, the 78-year-old started volunteering, continuing to help the elderly while also taking shifts at the church’s front desk, which is now staffed by a rotating squad of congregants.
Barbara Collins, a retired teacher and longtime church member, began recruiting volunteers. They spent months reupholstering dozens of church chairs. They published the weekly bulletin and monthly newsletter. When the cleaning and grounds crews were eliminated, volunteers began scrubbing the church and cutting grass. Over two summer Saturdays, they planted dozens of impatiens and mums to form a cross on the front lawn.
The food pantry, which serves the area’s poor, had once been overseen by staffers. Like so many other duties, it soon was taken over by volunteers. To thank the pantry’s unpaid workers, another crew recently remodeled the drab windowless space, with its stained walls and leaky pipe, leaving it clean and brightly painted.
On Monday, four volunteers were expected to help decorate the sanctuary for Christmas; 18 turned up. “It just warms your heart,” said Collins, choking up as she watched congregants fluff artificial Christmas tree limbs and place red and white poinsettias in the choir loft.
Off to the side was Gentle, who stopped by to check on the volunteers’ progress. A day earlier, he had spoken from the pulpit about faith, hope, betrayal by a trusted employee and giving thanks “even in times of hardship like the embezzlement and theft.”
As he watched the volunteers scurry about, the pastor said nothing.
He just smiled.
The Rev. Stephen Gentle stood at the pulpit of his historic District church Sunday and urged his congregation to give thanks — for the good and the bad. “We have had to learn to give thanks and praise to God,” Gentle said, “as we have been meeting one challenge after another, after another.”
To Gentle and others at National City Christian Church, the past few years have been a never-ending crisis. Like many downtown churches, it has seen its membership and fundraising dwindle. The church was rocked by a former pastor’s plagiarism in 2003. Then, August’s earthquake caused tens of thousands of dollars in unsightly damage that the church cannot afford to repair.
Worst of all, the congregation’s leaders have had to spend the past three years unwinding an $850,000 embezzlement scam that drained National City’s budget and forced the church to cut back on its ministry and staff.
Some members left the congregation, and others spoke of closing the church’s doors. But a core group refused to quit. Whether it was fixing choir chairs, answering phones, cleaning the sanctuary or pulling weeds and planting flowers on church grounds, dozens of congregants banded together. In some ways, the fallout from the scam has made National City stronger.
“These last few years have been extremely difficult,” Gentle said. “But we have seen the congregation come together like we have not seen in a long, long time.”
National City, the nearly 170-year-old flagship congregation of the 660,000-member Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), routinely drew 800 people to worship on Sundays in the 1950s and 1960s. President James A. Garfield preached from its pulpit, and President Lyndon B. Johnson regularly attended services.But at a recent Sunday service at the majestic church on Thomas Circle, about 125 worshipers, many of them retirees, sat scattered among 62 pews.
The scam only exacerbated National City’s problems. It came just a few years after the congregation was embarrassed by news that its pastor, the Rev. Alvin O’Neil Jackson, had plagiarized sermons delivered by another minister. Jackson left the church and was replaced in early 2006 by Gentle, a soft-spoken pastor of a Florida church. Gentle’s mission, as many members saw it, was to help heal the reeling church.
For a few years, Gentle made progress. But the church was tested again in 2008, when its leaders found discrepancies in financial records. At first, they thought their chief financial officer, Jason T. Reynolds, was simply a bad bookkeeper. Then they realized Reynolds had stolen about $850,000 in church money to buy cars, flat-screen TVs and jewels.
At one point, Reynolds gave Gentle and his sixth-grade son two tickets to a Washington Wizards game. Gentle realized later that Reynolds’s tickets had been financed by his church.
“I was literally sick to my stomach when I realized that,” said Gentle, 51, who would testify at Reynolds’s trial. In August, Reynolds was convicted of 12 fraud-related charges, and Gentle wrote a letter to the federal judge on the eve of sentencing that described the “pain, distrust and financial hardship” that had been inflicted on his church. On Nov. 9, Reynolds was sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
The scheme, which ran from 2002 through 2008, clobbered the church’s finances. Reynolds had covered up his theft by shifting money from one account to another but had left many invoices unpaid. The church was forced to dip into its endowment to pay a $40,000 electric bill or face darkness. It had to cut back on its ministry, including slashing a popular summer-enrichment program for kids. Gentle and church leaders cut the institution’s $2.4 million budget in half. One-third of its 21 workers were laid off.
The church’s endowment, also battered by a bad economy, fell from $8.4 million in 2007 to its current level of $4.8 million.
At meetings, members vented about their next steps, even wondering whether they should shutter the congregation. In the end, members and Gentle say, their choice was obvious: They would not surrender to a crime.
“We felt very strongly that as a church of God, how dare we even think about closing the doors?” said Loretta Tate, the congregation’s lay leader.
Soon after learning that her church was in financial trouble, Kathleen Swihart, a staffer who had looked after elderly and sick parishioners for more than 20 years, approached Gentle — and laid herself off because she knew the church was going to be strapped for money. The same afternoon, the 78-year-old started volunteering, continuing to help the elderly while also taking shifts at the church’s front desk, which is now staffed by a rotating squad of congregants.
Barbara Collins, a retired teacher and longtime church member, began recruiting volunteers. They spent months reupholstering dozens of church chairs. They published the weekly bulletin and monthly newsletter. When the cleaning and grounds crews were eliminated, volunteers began scrubbing the church and cutting grass. Over two summer Saturdays, they planted dozens of impatiens and mums to form a cross on the front lawn.
The food pantry, which serves the area’s poor, had once been overseen by staffers. Like so many other duties, it soon was taken over by volunteers. To thank the pantry’s unpaid workers, another crew recently remodeled the drab windowless space, with its stained walls and leaky pipe, leaving it clean and brightly painted.
On Monday, four volunteers were expected to help decorate the sanctuary for Christmas; 18 turned up. “It just warms your heart,” said Collins, choking up as she watched congregants fluff artificial Christmas tree limbs and place red and white poinsettias in the choir loft.
Off to the side was Gentle, who stopped by to check on the volunteers’ progress. A day earlier, he had spoken from the pulpit about faith, hope, betrayal by a trusted employee and giving thanks “even in times of hardship like the embezzlement and theft.”
As he watched the volunteers scurry about, the pastor said nothing.
He just smiled.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Maryland Man Convicted of Embezzling More Than $500,000 From District of Columbia Church
Jason Todd Reynolds, 40, has been convicted by a jury of federal charge stemming from his embezzling more than $500,000 from a church in the District ofColumbia where he worked as the chief financial officer.
The verdict was returned late August 15, 2011 and announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C.Machen Jr., David Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office of the U.S.Secret Service, and Jeannine A. Hammett, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Reynolds, of Bowie, Maryland, was convicted of a total of 12 counts following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The charges included one count each of wire fraud, bank fraud, making a false statement on a loan application, and fraud in the first degree, as well as four counts each of aggravated identity theft and tax evasion. The Honorable Gladys
Kessler scheduled sentencing for November 4, 2011. Under federal sentencing guidelines,
Reynolds could face a likely range of 70 to 87 months of incarceration.Following the verdict, Judge Kessler ordered that Reynolds be detained pending sentencing.According to evidence introduced at trial, Reynolds was hired by the National City Christian Church in 2001 and later became its Chief Financial Officer. Reynolds had control over the church’s bank accounts, credit cards, and checks. He also was responsible for conducting “reconciliation” of the church’s accounts. Using his position of trust, between 2003 and 2008,
Reynolds used various means to defraud the church.For example, Reynolds handwrote himself numerous unauthorized checks in addition to his biweekly salary. He paid his home mortgage and personal credit card from church bank accounts. Reynolds also misused his church credit card to make numerous luxury purchases, including the purchase of three cars (a Lexus SUV, a Range Rover, and a Nissan Maxima), a
$12,000 diamond ring, a deck/porch addition to his home, high-end furniture including a projection-screen home theater and leather seating, numerous vacations at four-star accommodations, and sports tickets, including courtside season tickets to the Washington Wizards basketball games.A conservative assessment put the defendant’s embezzlement from the National City Christian Church at more than $500,000. In 2007 alone, Reynolds took more than $145,000 in unauthorized payments and benefits. In certain instances, Reynolds took donations to the church,as well as rent payments from charities leasing space at the church, and directly converted those payments to his own use.In addition to the theft, the evidence showed that Reynolds evaded taxes, not reporting any of the income he embezzled from the Church and failing to pay any taxes on it. In addition, to hide his embezzlement and re-fill the church’s accounts, Reynolds forged a false corporate resolution using the names of various church officers purporting to authorize him to obtain a
$450,000 line of credit. He immediately withdrew the full amount of that loan, leaving the
National City Christian Church with an enormous debt of which it was unaware – until the loan
came due after the defendant’s termination.“The hard-working men and women of the National City Christian Church trusted that their offerings would be used to further the work of the church. Mr. Reynolds abused that trust,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “While serving as the church's financial officer, he devised a scheme to rob the collection plate to pay for his luxury vehicles and four-star vacations. In a little less than
three hours, a jury of his peers found him guilty for his fraudulent conduct and now he will be
held accountable.”“The role of IRS-Criminal Investigation becomes even more important in embezzlement and fraud cases like this one due to the complex financial transactions that can take time to unravel,”
said Acting Special Agent in Charge Hammett. “Federal tax laws are normally violated in these
cases and as we often see, the victims are not only the taxpayers, but also the individuals and
entities who suffer the financial harm.”In announcing the verdicts, U.S. Attorney Machen, Special Agent in Charge Beach and Acting Special Agent in Charge Hammett commended the work of Special Agent Melissa Blake of the U.S. Secret Service and Special Agent Michael Helgesen of the IRS, who investigated the
case. They also acknowledged the work of Revenue Agent Tammy Barker of the IRS, who
analyzed the tax loss from the defendant’s unreported income, and Detective Martin Hoffmaster
of the Alexandria, Virginia Police Department, who conducted a forensic analysis of Reynolds’s
computer. In addition, they commended the work of Paralegal Specialists Tasha Harris and
Sarah Reis and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Hooks and Jonathan Haray, who investigated
and tried the case.
The verdict was returned late August 15, 2011 and announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C.Machen Jr., David Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office of the U.S.Secret Service, and Jeannine A. Hammett, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Reynolds, of Bowie, Maryland, was convicted of a total of 12 counts following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The charges included one count each of wire fraud, bank fraud, making a false statement on a loan application, and fraud in the first degree, as well as four counts each of aggravated identity theft and tax evasion. The Honorable Gladys
Kessler scheduled sentencing for November 4, 2011. Under federal sentencing guidelines,
Reynolds could face a likely range of 70 to 87 months of incarceration.Following the verdict, Judge Kessler ordered that Reynolds be detained pending sentencing.According to evidence introduced at trial, Reynolds was hired by the National City Christian Church in 2001 and later became its Chief Financial Officer. Reynolds had control over the church’s bank accounts, credit cards, and checks. He also was responsible for conducting “reconciliation” of the church’s accounts. Using his position of trust, between 2003 and 2008,
Reynolds used various means to defraud the church.For example, Reynolds handwrote himself numerous unauthorized checks in addition to his biweekly salary. He paid his home mortgage and personal credit card from church bank accounts. Reynolds also misused his church credit card to make numerous luxury purchases, including the purchase of three cars (a Lexus SUV, a Range Rover, and a Nissan Maxima), a
$12,000 diamond ring, a deck/porch addition to his home, high-end furniture including a projection-screen home theater and leather seating, numerous vacations at four-star accommodations, and sports tickets, including courtside season tickets to the Washington Wizards basketball games.A conservative assessment put the defendant’s embezzlement from the National City Christian Church at more than $500,000. In 2007 alone, Reynolds took more than $145,000 in unauthorized payments and benefits. In certain instances, Reynolds took donations to the church,as well as rent payments from charities leasing space at the church, and directly converted those payments to his own use.In addition to the theft, the evidence showed that Reynolds evaded taxes, not reporting any of the income he embezzled from the Church and failing to pay any taxes on it. In addition, to hide his embezzlement and re-fill the church’s accounts, Reynolds forged a false corporate resolution using the names of various church officers purporting to authorize him to obtain a
$450,000 line of credit. He immediately withdrew the full amount of that loan, leaving the
National City Christian Church with an enormous debt of which it was unaware – until the loan
came due after the defendant’s termination.“The hard-working men and women of the National City Christian Church trusted that their offerings would be used to further the work of the church. Mr. Reynolds abused that trust,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “While serving as the church's financial officer, he devised a scheme to rob the collection plate to pay for his luxury vehicles and four-star vacations. In a little less than
three hours, a jury of his peers found him guilty for his fraudulent conduct and now he will be
held accountable.”“The role of IRS-Criminal Investigation becomes even more important in embezzlement and fraud cases like this one due to the complex financial transactions that can take time to unravel,”
said Acting Special Agent in Charge Hammett. “Federal tax laws are normally violated in these
cases and as we often see, the victims are not only the taxpayers, but also the individuals and
entities who suffer the financial harm.”In announcing the verdicts, U.S. Attorney Machen, Special Agent in Charge Beach and Acting Special Agent in Charge Hammett commended the work of Special Agent Melissa Blake of the U.S. Secret Service and Special Agent Michael Helgesen of the IRS, who investigated the
case. They also acknowledged the work of Revenue Agent Tammy Barker of the IRS, who
analyzed the tax loss from the defendant’s unreported income, and Detective Martin Hoffmaster
of the Alexandria, Virginia Police Department, who conducted a forensic analysis of Reynolds’s
computer. In addition, they commended the work of Paralegal Specialists Tasha Harris and
Sarah Reis and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Hooks and Jonathan Haray, who investigated
and tried the case.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Mariner Boosters Club hopes new practices will deter another theft in Washington
Failure to keep an eye on its finances for nearly a decade, which opened the door to the embezzlement of nearly $60,000 by a treasurer with a gambling addiction, was a mistake the Mariner Boosters Club won’t make again.
Former treasurer Patricia Harmon, charged with first-degree theft, was sentenced last week to 90 days in jail.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Michael Downes rejected a first-time offender waiver recommended by prosecutors and Harmon’s attorney.
Admitting she is a compulsive gambler, Harmon has been in treatment since turning herself into county Sheriff deputies and confessing to the booster club president in 2009.
Records show that at the time of her confession, Harmon needed to pay some large club bills and, although the club’s bank records showed a balance of $45,000, there was really only $391 left in the account.
For that reason, Judge Downes said Harmon’s confession appeared prompted by factors beyond her control, and she deserved to serve time behind bars.
Club officials believe their new practices will prevent any repeats of the episode.
"We are recuperating,” said Sheri Thompson, current boosters club co-treasurer. “We are changing our policies so that a theft, such as the one Patty was sentenced for, cannot go unnoticed,” she said.
The boosters club has rearranged its administrative structure to ensure honesty among members.
The club now has nine executive board members, and there are two people holding each position except for the secretary’s position. There are two presidents, two vice-presidents, two treasurers and two concessions managers.
Dual signatures are required for all transactions involving the club bank account. For each deposit, one bank slip is sent to the school and one bank slip is kept with the president.
In addition the boosters club has increased membership from 23 to 70.
There are 25 sub-clubs that function under the umbrella of the Mariner Boosters Club, and when one of the sub-clubs makes a deposit of fundraising money, the deposit must be signed by one of their representatives and also an executive board member.
The sub-club representative will get a receipt for each deposit, and bank statements are available at every meeting.
"I just want to warn all clubs out there currently, just look at your bank statements. That is all that is needed to be done to prevent this,” Thompson said.
“You just need to match profit and loss reports to the bank statements, and the theft should be easy to catch,” she said. The club is now completing annual audits.
Despite all the upset over Harmon’s sentencing, the boosters club is working hard to recover lost funds and restore trust in their operations.
“We have created a new scholarship for students, The Brad Agerup Memorial Fund, which is two $500 scholarships given annually to graduating seniors,” Thompson said.
“We have set aside three years worth of funds to cover it.
“We are looking to add two more years of funds by the end of the 2011 school year.”
"We would like the community to know that we are up and running and that we are strong,” she said. “We would love to see more people at meetings.
“If anyone is interested, they can check out the Mariner Boosters link on the Mariner High School website.”
Meeting times and locations are listed on the website.
“We would love for people to join,” Thompson said.
Former treasurer Patricia Harmon, charged with first-degree theft, was sentenced last week to 90 days in jail.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Michael Downes rejected a first-time offender waiver recommended by prosecutors and Harmon’s attorney.
Admitting she is a compulsive gambler, Harmon has been in treatment since turning herself into county Sheriff deputies and confessing to the booster club president in 2009.
Records show that at the time of her confession, Harmon needed to pay some large club bills and, although the club’s bank records showed a balance of $45,000, there was really only $391 left in the account.
For that reason, Judge Downes said Harmon’s confession appeared prompted by factors beyond her control, and she deserved to serve time behind bars.
Club officials believe their new practices will prevent any repeats of the episode.
"We are recuperating,” said Sheri Thompson, current boosters club co-treasurer. “We are changing our policies so that a theft, such as the one Patty was sentenced for, cannot go unnoticed,” she said.
The boosters club has rearranged its administrative structure to ensure honesty among members.
The club now has nine executive board members, and there are two people holding each position except for the secretary’s position. There are two presidents, two vice-presidents, two treasurers and two concessions managers.
Dual signatures are required for all transactions involving the club bank account. For each deposit, one bank slip is sent to the school and one bank slip is kept with the president.
In addition the boosters club has increased membership from 23 to 70.
There are 25 sub-clubs that function under the umbrella of the Mariner Boosters Club, and when one of the sub-clubs makes a deposit of fundraising money, the deposit must be signed by one of their representatives and also an executive board member.
The sub-club representative will get a receipt for each deposit, and bank statements are available at every meeting.
"I just want to warn all clubs out there currently, just look at your bank statements. That is all that is needed to be done to prevent this,” Thompson said.
“You just need to match profit and loss reports to the bank statements, and the theft should be easy to catch,” she said. The club is now completing annual audits.
Despite all the upset over Harmon’s sentencing, the boosters club is working hard to recover lost funds and restore trust in their operations.
“We have created a new scholarship for students, The Brad Agerup Memorial Fund, which is two $500 scholarships given annually to graduating seniors,” Thompson said.
“We have set aside three years worth of funds to cover it.
“We are looking to add two more years of funds by the end of the 2011 school year.”
"We would like the community to know that we are up and running and that we are strong,” she said. “We would love to see more people at meetings.
“If anyone is interested, they can check out the Mariner Boosters link on the Mariner High School website.”
Meeting times and locations are listed on the website.
“We would love for people to join,” Thompson said.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Former Finance Manager At DC Mosque Accused Of Embezzling "Hundreds Of Thousands" Of Dollars
According to published reports, Farzad Darui, 50, an Iranian-born US Citizen of Falls Church, Virginia and the former financial manager for The Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. is being sued again in federal court for allegedly embezzling "hundreds of thousands" of dollars from the Mosque. According to the complaint in the lawsuit, Darui altered legitimate signed checks to pay vendors by changing the name to entities he "owned and/or controlled." The complaint also asserted that Darui was employed as finance manager and bookkeeper from 1994 until 2006, when he was fired. The embezzlement allegedly began in 2000 and continued until his termination. The case was brought by authorities after the Mosque brought it to their attention and Darui was indicted in June 2007. However, the criminal case went to trial, but ended in a mistrial and was eventually the charges were dropped last month. At the time, it was alleged that Darui embezzled $430,000.
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