Churches, Schools, and Day Cares Embezzlements Are On The Rise

The month of July is rapidly becoming a busy month for employee embezzlement around the nation. There is a huge need for policy and procedure reviews and stronger internal controls to aid in reducing MOM (Motive, Opportunity and Means). For churches, schools and daycares increased training amongst the leadership will help to trigger and identify discrepancies in management.

OWL Risk Management Consulting, LLC specializes in policy analyses and risk management. Call TODAY 1-886-579-7475 to speak to a qualified consultant.

Churches
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Woman accused of embezzling from Okeene, Oklahoma church
Blaine County prosecutors have accused a former church treasurer of taking more than $176,000 from an Okeene church.Forty-eight-year-old Okeene resident Christine Mae Lorenz has been charged with two counts of embezzlement by employee. Lorenz posted a $2,000 cash bond and faces an Aug. 13 court appearance.

Authorities allege Lorenz took $127,748 between Feb. 1, 2005, and May 19, 2009, from one of the First Baptist Church of Okeene accounts, and $48,895 from another account during roughly the same period.
Lorenz's attorney, listed in court records as Matthew R. Oppel, wasn't immediately available for comment Wednesday.

Woman Accused of Embezzling $186,000 from North Carolina Church July 1, 2010.
An employee at a Thomasville church is accused of embezzling $186,000. Kathy Koonts Sechriest, born on Christmas Day in 1956, is charged with embezzling money from Zion United Church of Christ in Thomasville. Sechreist worked as a secretary at the church and lives nearby with her husband. Sechriest turned herself in to detectives on Wednesday. She faces charges of embezzlement of greater than $100,000, a felony. Arrest warrants show Sechriest is believed to have embezzled the money over the past five years.

No one answered at Sechriest's house when FOX8 went to ask for her side of the story, and many friends said they didn't know she had been arrested. Family members who did not want to speak on camera told FOX8 that they were the last to know that she was arrested. Some church members who did not want to be identified said they questioned why Sechriest worked late at night at the church and why she suddenly had extensive landscaping in her yard. The pastor at Zion United Church of Christ did not return calls for comment. Sechriest was released on $100,000 bond, which records show she paid in cash. The judge also ordered Sechriest not to harass, assault or threaten any members of the church. Her court date is set for July 21

Schools
FAMU officials accused of embezzling - July 11, 2010.
Two Florida A&M officials have been indicted by the federal government for conspiring to embezzle Housing and Urban Development Department money. U.S. Attorney Pamela Marsh said Wednesday that Eugene Telfair and Robert Nixon were indicted on charges of conspiracy, theft from an organization receiving federal funds, and embezzlement. Telfair, president of the FAMU Federal Credit Union, and Nixon, the director of FAMU's Institute on Urban Policy and Commerce, allegedly conspired to steal about $134,250 between 2005 and 2008. The indictment said Telfair and Nixon wrote one another checks and created fraudulent personal services contracts. Telfair is also alleged to have created false tax documents.

Charter School Operators in California Appear in Court on Embezzlement Case July 10, 2010.
The operators of a charter campus in the San Fernando Valley made their first court appearance today on charges of embezzling more than $200,000 in school funds.Yevgeny "Eugene" Selivanov, 38, and his wife, Tatyana Berkovich, 32, who run Ivy Academia charter school, are accused of taking the money between 2004 and 2009.They are charged with five felony counts of misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement by a public or private officer and filing a false tax return, along with a misdemeanor count of failing to file a statement of their economic interests for 2008, according to the criminal complaint.Selivanov is additionally charged with six counts of misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement by a public or private officer, money laundering and filing a false tax return, while Berkovich is also charged with a misdemeanor count of conflict of interest.If convicted as charged, Selivanov faces a possible maximum prison term of 14 years and two months, while his wife faces up to nine years behind bars, according to the District Attorney's Office.

The Tarzana couple started the school in 2004. Ivy Academia has four campuses, in Woodland Hills, West Hills, Winnetka and Chatsworth, and bills itself on its website as "one of the highest performing charter schools in California."The couple also own a private "for public" preschool, Academy Just for Kids, which shares a campus with the charter school, according to the District Attorney's Office.The complaint against them alleges that a school district auditor "identified several areas which appeared to involve commingling of public with private funds and failure to accurately report financial transactions in the school's accounting records."Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Hilleri G. Merritt ruled that the two will be allowed to remain free on their own recognizance on the condition that they make arrangements to be booked by June 18. They are scheduled to be arraigned July 19 at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.The judge also ordered the couple not to use any Ivy Academia charter school or support funds or credit cards for personal use, including groceries, restaurant meals, gifts and clothing, and not to open any new bank accounts, credit cards or credit lines on behalf of the school."We expect that they will be fully exonerated in this matter and be able to continue to serve the students," defense attorney Janet I. Levine said outside court.In a statement released after the couple were charged Thursday, Levine said they are "educators and innovators, and are confident that any fair and complete review of the facts will show they acted honorably, ethically and legally in administering Ivy."In a letter sent to Ivy Academia parents, the school noted that the charges "will in no way interrupt Ivy's day-to-day operations" and that Selivanov and Berkovich will "continue to work at the school."The Los Angeles Unified School District's Office of the Inspector General began an audit of Ivy Academia charter school in June 2006 as one of several charter schools to be audited.The case was referred to the district's Office of Investigations in August 2006, then to the District Attorney's Public Integrity Division in May 2008. The state Franchise Tax Board also investigated the case. Charter schools are operated with public fund

Daycares
House foreclosure at stake in Connecticutt nursery school embezzlement case. July 10, 2010.
A nursery school that is suing a former bookkeeper accused of embezzling more than $150,000 will be allowed to initiate a foreclosure on the woman's house if it wins the lawsuit, according to the school's attorney. Superior Court Judge Terence Zemetis has granted a prejudgment remedy of $250,000 in a lawsuit brought by the Guilford Nursery School against Joan Kathryn Ames, requiring Ames to set aside $250,000 in assets.A writ of attachment orders Ames to put up her Whitethorn Drive home to satisfy the prejudgment remedy."It has the practical effect of preserving whatever her equity is in the house for us," he said. Ames, who was the school's bookkeeper for about 30 years but no longer works there, was charged with firstdegree larceny in September. She has not yet entered a plea and is due back in court Monday.Initial police investigations alleged that Ames, formerly known as Joan Ames Berkowitz, embezzled $50,000. But further audits accuse her of embezzling at least $150,000 in five years.Licari said last week he is still receiving bank records related to the case and that the law may permit the Guilford Nursery School to be reimbursed three times the amount embezzled. That's why Licari initially asked the court to require Ames to secure $450,000 in assets.However, after discussions between Licari and New Haven lawyer William F. Dow III, who represents Ames in her civil and criminal cases, "the court entered a prejudgment remedy pursuant to an agreement between the parties for $250,000," Licari said.The decrease in the request of the prejudgment remedy amount "has no direct bearing upon ultimate value of our case or with the confidence we have in our client," Licari said. "The judge didn't order that. It's not a function of any analysis by the court as to ultimate value of claim."Ames' house appears to be worth more than $250,000, Licari added, but the court has also granted a motion for Ames to disclose other assets.Dow and Ames could not be reached for comment.The Police Department began an investigation into Ames' bookkeeping in fall 2009, after receiving a complaint from the nonprofit North Guilford Nursery School. As bookkeeper, Ames made all deposits and handled accounts payable, and court documents state she issued checks to herself using school accounts for money she was not owed and tried to conceal the withdrawal.

Frankfort, Kentucky woman pleads not guilty to embezzling $40,000 July 1, 2010
Frankfort, Kentucky woman pleads not guilty to embezzling $40,000 from day care center
A Frankfort woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to embezzling $40,000 from a non-profit child care organization in Lexington for which she worked.Mary Tincher, 39, is charged with felony theft by deception of an amount more than $10,000. Tincher is accused of electronically transferring funds to her private bank account from Child Development Centers of the Bluegrass over seven months. Child Development Centers, 465 Springhill Drive, provides speech, occupational and physical therapy to children with disabilities. The organization also runs a day care program for children with and without special needs.Tincher was hired as a financial employee in August. She declined comment after Wednesday's arraignment.Tincher is scheduled to return to Fayette District Court on July 22 for a preliminary hearing. She was released from the Fayette County jail after posting 10 percent of a $5,000 bond.