I am one of 3 reunion planners for 30th high school reunion. We are brand new planners. ONe of the planners (I will call her Mary) opened up a bank account for the class reunion funds. Several weeks later, a second planner (I will call her Sue) was added as cosigner on the account. Monies sent to Mary were deposited. She sent us email scanned copies of each check that came in. Sue did not monitor the account. The night of the reunion, after Mary wrote a $2175 check to the venue, another classmate told me that Mary was a known embezzler - but it never made the legal arena because a family member paid off the embezzled debt. I immediately sent an email to Mary and Sue and suggested they both make copies of their receipts, and that Mary get a bank statement, and that I would take the numbers in and out and type up a Treasurer's Report just to keep track and to be accountable should we ever be asked to our classmates. My main goal was to see what Mary might be up to. A month passed and Sue asked Mary to reimburse her for the $250 she was owed and had receipts for. After many delays, Sue realized she could just go get the money - since we should have had a nice balance left - but Mary said she couldn't do that.
We now have a copy of the bank statement and have discovered that Mary used the account for personal purposes - food, gas, etc. - and some for decorations (which we had authorized up to about $175, but it appears she spent up to $300 - we are not clear what the actual purchases were because she never offered up receipts). We learned that Mary when she opened the account opted for the overdraft feature and a debit card - neither which are needed on a reunion fund account used once every five years - and neither which she told us about. When the check to the event venue cleared, because she had been using it for other things, it put the account into overdraft by over $300 and it started being assessed a $25 per week fee plus other penalty fees. Right now the account has accrued over $200 in late fees and the total owed is over $600 to bring the bank account up to zero.
Mary now owes the bank over $600, she owes Sue $250 for reimbursed expenses, and she owes the high school account funds $175 that was left over (actually that number is higher - we are being generous here). She owes over $1000 ... and does not have it. We learned she might have just been evicted.
Sue has gone to the bank manager to determine her liability - so far all that has been accomplished is that the bank manager actually told Sue that she "suspected something like this might happen" with this account. I am unclear whether this is because she knew Mary's reputation as an embezzler or if the overdraft feature and debit card on a reunion account were red flags. SHe is evidently gathering information to let Sue know of her liability and whether we can get the police involved, or if this is a "civil matter." The bank manager is closing the account so no more damage can be done - and evidently this COULD be done with only Sue's signature.
We are waiting to get all ducks in a row - and for bank manager to give us details of Sue's liability. Can you give any guidance? And no, we will not invite her to help with the next reunion.
We now have a copy of the bank statement and have discovered that Mary used the account for personal purposes - food, gas, etc. - and some for decorations (which we had authorized up to about $175, but it appears she spent up to $300 - we are not clear what the actual purchases were because she never offered up receipts). We learned that Mary when she opened the account opted for the overdraft feature and a debit card - neither which are needed on a reunion fund account used once every five years - and neither which she told us about. When the check to the event venue cleared, because she had been using it for other things, it put the account into overdraft by over $300 and it started being assessed a $25 per week fee plus other penalty fees. Right now the account has accrued over $200 in late fees and the total owed is over $600 to bring the bank account up to zero.
Mary now owes the bank over $600, she owes Sue $250 for reimbursed expenses, and she owes the high school account funds $175 that was left over (actually that number is higher - we are being generous here). She owes over $1000 ... and does not have it. We learned she might have just been evicted.
Sue has gone to the bank manager to determine her liability - so far all that has been accomplished is that the bank manager actually told Sue that she "suspected something like this might happen" with this account. I am unclear whether this is because she knew Mary's reputation as an embezzler or if the overdraft feature and debit card on a reunion account were red flags. SHe is evidently gathering information to let Sue know of her liability and whether we can get the police involved, or if this is a "civil matter." The bank manager is closing the account so no more damage can be done - and evidently this COULD be done with only Sue's signature.
We are waiting to get all ducks in a row - and for bank manager to give us details of Sue's liability. Can you give any guidance? And no, we will not invite her to help with the next reunion.
