Associated Student Body funds come from school fundraisers, athletic activities and special events like school dances. The students even have some control over how the money is spent through student government, but Center High School employees are under investigation for possible embezzlement.
"Oh, it could be thousands of dollars can go through that account any given week," Center Unified School District Director of Personnel and Student Services David Grimes said.
Grimes confirmed that over the last few weeks, the district has investigated accusations of embezzlement of money raised by Center High School students and managed for them by school officials.
"The principal works with the bookkeeper and has oversight and authority to manage and watch over, and make sure that account is being handled properly," Grimes explained.
Asked if anyone else is involved in that process, "No. No, we want to, you don't want too many hands in when you're dealing with the finances," Grimes replied.
Grimes did not say who the investigation is specifically targeting, but he will say who it isn't.
"We want to be very clear on that, the principal is not the subject of any investigation at all," Grimes said.
Grimes said Center High School only has one bookkeeper and no one other than the bookkeeper accesses the account.
Center High School's website identifies the bookkeeper as Dana Busath. When News10 visited Busath at her home, she declined to comment. The school district said they have placed multiple employees on administrative leave.
Grimes said some students have been questioned during the investigation, but they stress that no students have been accused of any wrongdoing.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Ex-Clearlake pastor's wife turns in self in embezzlement case
A woman accused embezzling from a Clearlake church, just like her ex-pastor husband, made her first court appearance in the case Tuesday.
Shanell Stark voluntarily reported to the Lake County Courthouse Tuesday morning after an arrest warrant was issued back in August following a nearly four-year Clearlake Police investigation.
Shanell Stark, 41, faces one felony count of grand theft and a special allegation that the amount exceeded $50,000 -- the same charges her husband, 62-year-old Bruce Anthony Stark, stands accused of.
Both have formally denied wrongdoing. Shanell Stark pleaded not guilty to the lone count and denied the special allegation during her arraignment by Judge Andrew S. Blum Tuesday, deputy district attorney Sharon Lerman-Hubert said.
Authorities allege the couple stole tens of thousands of dollars in cash and property from the Hilltop Apostolic Church in Clearlake during the time Bruce Stark worked as a pastor there between 2002 and 2007. Shanell Stark reportedly held a secretarial position at the church.
Elk Grove Police arrested Bruce Stark on an outstanding Lake County arrest warrant in March, but his wife was not taken into custody. "For some reason, she wasn't picked up at that same time," Lerman-Hubert said.
After Shanell Stark decided to voluntarily report to court Tuesday, the judge recalled the arrest warrant and released her on her own recognizance, Lerman-Hubert said. Both Starks remain out of custody and now reside in Stockton.
The couple are set to have their preliminary hearing together on Aug. 7. They are due back in court Aug. 2 to assign a courtroom for the pretrial hearing -- during which a judge would decide if there's enough evidence to require the defendants to stand trial for the charges.
Public defenders Thomas Quinn, who represents Bruce Stark, and Barry Melton, who represents Shanell Stark, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Shanell Stark voluntarily reported to the Lake County Courthouse Tuesday morning after an arrest warrant was issued back in August following a nearly four-year Clearlake Police investigation.
Shanell Stark, 41, faces one felony count of grand theft and a special allegation that the amount exceeded $50,000 -- the same charges her husband, 62-year-old Bruce Anthony Stark, stands accused of.
Both have formally denied wrongdoing. Shanell Stark pleaded not guilty to the lone count and denied the special allegation during her arraignment by Judge Andrew S. Blum Tuesday, deputy district attorney Sharon Lerman-Hubert said.
Authorities allege the couple stole tens of thousands of dollars in cash and property from the Hilltop Apostolic Church in Clearlake during the time Bruce Stark worked as a pastor there between 2002 and 2007. Shanell Stark reportedly held a secretarial position at the church.
Elk Grove Police arrested Bruce Stark on an outstanding Lake County arrest warrant in March, but his wife was not taken into custody. "For some reason, she wasn't picked up at that same time," Lerman-Hubert said.
After Shanell Stark decided to voluntarily report to court Tuesday, the judge recalled the arrest warrant and released her on her own recognizance, Lerman-Hubert said. Both Starks remain out of custody and now reside in Stockton.
The couple are set to have their preliminary hearing together on Aug. 7. They are due back in court Aug. 2 to assign a courtroom for the pretrial hearing -- during which a judge would decide if there's enough evidence to require the defendants to stand trial for the charges.
Public defenders Thomas Quinn, who represents Bruce Stark, and Barry Melton, who represents Shanell Stark, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Former admin charged with embezzling from Duke University in North Carolina
A former administrator with Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering is charged with embezzling money from the university.
A warrant for the arrest of Jeffrey Cable, 52, of Willow Spring, on charges of embezzlement was issued on June 4.
Cable used his university credit card to make $1,784.26 in unauthorized purchases between Dec. 7, 2012, and Jan. 2, 2013, the warrant says.
Cable was a program director for Duke's Pratt School of Engineering from August 2009 until May 10, 2013.
A Duke spokesperson would only comment that Cable and the university "made a separation on May 10."
A warrant for the arrest of Jeffrey Cable, 52, of Willow Spring, on charges of embezzlement was issued on June 4.
Cable used his university credit card to make $1,784.26 in unauthorized purchases between Dec. 7, 2012, and Jan. 2, 2013, the warrant says.
Cable was a program director for Duke's Pratt School of Engineering from August 2009 until May 10, 2013.
A Duke spokesperson would only comment that Cable and the university "made a separation on May 10."
West Jefferson Woman Charged With Four Felony Counts of Embezzling Money From Boone Church in North Carolina
Boone Police Investigators have charged Janet Marie Culley, 41 years-of-age, with four counts of Felony Embezzlement. Mrs. Culley was taken before the Watauga County Magistrate where she was placed under a $10,000 secured bond pending a July 29, 2013, court appearance. Mrs. Culley is alleged to have misappropriated company funds to her own use while working as a finance/ministry administrative assistant for the First Baptist Church of Boone, Inc.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Thou Shalt Not Steal: Churches Not Immune From Fraud
FROM BKD FORENSICS.COM -
It would be easy to assume churches and other religious organizations have no problem with employee theft—trust levels tend to be much higher. Unfortunately, even those who work in places of worship can be tempted just like anyone else entrusted with large sums of money. In many ways, churches are often more vulnerable for a variety of reasons:
People tend to trust each other more in situations where beliefs run contrary to dishonesty.
Churches tend to have smaller staffs, resulting in one person controlling finances.
Clergy and administrators—or many business owners, for that matter—are not taught to think about fraud risk, particularly regarding their own staff.
Those responsible for day-to-day administration might be reluctant to ask for an audit or anything sending a message to the staff that says, “We don’t quite trust you.”
A quick Google search for “church embezzlement” reveals a number of stories that have deeply affected churches around the country. Just last month, a former church administrator was sentenced to 17 months in prison for embezzling $130,000 over nine years. In a separate case, a former bookkeeper at a Minneapolis-area church was accused of stealing more than $235,000 over seven years. These were not one-time incidents of bad judgment; they were carefully orchestrated multiyear frauds made possible because someone completely trusted these employees, which is generally the reason they go undetected for so long.
The schemes are often uncomplicated, and once discovered, is simply a matter of tallying up the damage and trying to figure out how to get it back (without employee theft insurance, the odds of recovering funds are small). Common schemes include employees who write extra checks to themselves or use business funds to pay off personal credit card bills.
So what can a church do? The solutions are no different than those for any other business:
Don’t let one person have too much control. I often tell clients not to tempt employees who may be going through a tough time.
Have one person write checks and another person sign the checks.
Add a volunteer to the process to provide some oversight, such as having a retired accountant reconcile the bank account.
Ensure any cash collections are counted by two or three people at the same time.
Having checks and balances is not about not about mistrust or creating red tape. Done properly, they can enhance the flow of documentation, find unintentional errors and make the church a better place for everyone.
It would be easy to assume churches and other religious organizations have no problem with employee theft—trust levels tend to be much higher. Unfortunately, even those who work in places of worship can be tempted just like anyone else entrusted with large sums of money. In many ways, churches are often more vulnerable for a variety of reasons:
People tend to trust each other more in situations where beliefs run contrary to dishonesty.
Churches tend to have smaller staffs, resulting in one person controlling finances.
Clergy and administrators—or many business owners, for that matter—are not taught to think about fraud risk, particularly regarding their own staff.
Those responsible for day-to-day administration might be reluctant to ask for an audit or anything sending a message to the staff that says, “We don’t quite trust you.”
A quick Google search for “church embezzlement” reveals a number of stories that have deeply affected churches around the country. Just last month, a former church administrator was sentenced to 17 months in prison for embezzling $130,000 over nine years. In a separate case, a former bookkeeper at a Minneapolis-area church was accused of stealing more than $235,000 over seven years. These were not one-time incidents of bad judgment; they were carefully orchestrated multiyear frauds made possible because someone completely trusted these employees, which is generally the reason they go undetected for so long.
The schemes are often uncomplicated, and once discovered, is simply a matter of tallying up the damage and trying to figure out how to get it back (without employee theft insurance, the odds of recovering funds are small). Common schemes include employees who write extra checks to themselves or use business funds to pay off personal credit card bills.
So what can a church do? The solutions are no different than those for any other business:
Don’t let one person have too much control. I often tell clients not to tempt employees who may be going through a tough time.
Have one person write checks and another person sign the checks.
Add a volunteer to the process to provide some oversight, such as having a retired accountant reconcile the bank account.
Ensure any cash collections are counted by two or three people at the same time.
Having checks and balances is not about not about mistrust or creating red tape. Done properly, they can enhance the flow of documentation, find unintentional errors and make the church a better place for everyone.
Police investigating possible embezzlement of sports funds at Shorewood in Washington
Shoreline Police are investigating an assistant baseball coach for possible embezzlement of sports funds at Shorewood High School. At stake is $7095 in ASB funds allocated for baseball, which are unaccounted for.
Shoreline Schools reported the matter to Shoreline Police and are awaiting the outcome of the investigation.
Shoreline Schools reported the matter to Shoreline Police and are awaiting the outcome of the investigation.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Cops investigate alleged boy scout embezzlement in Rhode Island
Police are looking into a possible embezzlement case involving the treasurer of a local Boy Scout troop.
Katherine Valenti, 54, of West Warwick, has been accused of writing nine checks out to "Cash" and then cashing them herself. The checks were written from the Coventry Boy Scout Troop #1 checking account, and they totaled just over $8,000.
The financial activity was discovered when Committee Chairman Rockne Starks noticed the troop's checking account balance was unusually low. According to police, Valenti had already begun paying back some of the embezzled money before the missing cash was detected.
Valenti will be charged with nine counts of embezzlement. She is due in court on June 12.
A West Warwick woman faces nine felony counts of embezzlement after the chairman of Boy Scout Troop 1, which meets at St. Vincent De Paul Church, noticed that the troop's checking balance was unusually low.
Police Lt. John Shields said that troop Committee Chairman J. Rockne Starks asked for a printout of transactions over the past year and determined that the treasurer had written nine checks out to "cash" and cashed them herself. She had begun paying back the money before the crime was detected, Shields said.
Katherine A. Valenti, 54, of 34 New London Avenue in West Warwick was summoned to appear in District Court, Warwick, on June 12.
Valenti entered no plea Thursday morning. She's set to appear in Superior Court on July 29.
Police say the accusations arose after a scouting committee chairman noticed the troop's checking account balance was unusually low. The chairman asked Valenti for a printout of the troop's yearly transactions, and he noticed in the printout Valenti had written nine checks out to "Cash" totaling over $8,000 and cashed them herself.
By the time the alleged embezzlement was noticed, police say Valenti had already started paying some of the money back. The judge took note of that restitution when setting Valenti's bail.
Local Boy Scouts spokesman David Preston didn't comment Thursday; he said the organization would be deferring to police for the latest information.
Katherine Valenti, 54, of West Warwick, has been accused of writing nine checks out to "Cash" and then cashing them herself. The checks were written from the Coventry Boy Scout Troop #1 checking account, and they totaled just over $8,000.
The financial activity was discovered when Committee Chairman Rockne Starks noticed the troop's checking account balance was unusually low. According to police, Valenti had already begun paying back some of the embezzled money before the missing cash was detected.
Valenti will be charged with nine counts of embezzlement. She is due in court on June 12.
A West Warwick woman faces nine felony counts of embezzlement after the chairman of Boy Scout Troop 1, which meets at St. Vincent De Paul Church, noticed that the troop's checking balance was unusually low.
Police Lt. John Shields said that troop Committee Chairman J. Rockne Starks asked for a printout of transactions over the past year and determined that the treasurer had written nine checks out to "cash" and cashed them herself. She had begun paying back the money before the crime was detected, Shields said.
Katherine A. Valenti, 54, of 34 New London Avenue in West Warwick was summoned to appear in District Court, Warwick, on June 12.
Valenti entered no plea Thursday morning. She's set to appear in Superior Court on July 29.
Police say the accusations arose after a scouting committee chairman noticed the troop's checking account balance was unusually low. The chairman asked Valenti for a printout of the troop's yearly transactions, and he noticed in the printout Valenti had written nine checks out to "Cash" totaling over $8,000 and cashed them herself.
By the time the alleged embezzlement was noticed, police say Valenti had already started paying some of the money back. The judge took note of that restitution when setting Valenti's bail.
Local Boy Scouts spokesman David Preston didn't comment Thursday; he said the organization would be deferring to police for the latest information.
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