Monthly, one of my bosses gave me a report of all cash held by our "not for profit" company. There were two sets of figures on this report. One for my boss's internal use, and the other for only the board to see for use on the balance sheet. Once this information was input to her cash flow report, it annotated that a certain amount of funds was not available for general use since the money was earmarked in private funds for specific use.
However, there remained abut $1.5M dollars that also showed in the report she gave me that was completely omitted on the statement of cash usage and balance sheet reports. Her reasoning? This $ couldn't be used for general company purposes either, so why bother to even put it on the report - even though it could have been noted like the other funds. She just didn't want to bother everyone with have all this money earmarked for special projects that couldn't be used.
All auditors were hired in-house and had been working with them for years. I recommend outside auditors. The chart of accounts is very complicated and shows many, many "memo" accounts which never go onto the financial statements. It would be very easy to mistake memo accounts for misleading their financial position.
Whenever I had the opportunity to help out in Accounts Payable, I was ushered out immediately. However, I discovered serendipitously that one suspected member in this "coup" is getting $5000 every month for absolutely no good reason. There exists no documentation for the reason these monies are paid to her. Every time our Revenue clerk offered to help Accounts Payable Department, she was always pushed aside and chided for not sticking to her own job.
Final suspicions: J, L, S, and S who are the prime suspects for this suspicious activity. They all hold high positions within the Accounting, and Finance organization. Since they fired me, and I invoked the "whistle-blower" policy, almost everyone is gone - quit or got fired by them. They fired two personnel in HR, The CFO, and three others quit due to conflicts of management practices. I had hoped to stay on and gather the documents that would prove my case, but got fired shortly after I had been boasting that I detected embezzlement in another company. Coincidence or not, I also did, in fact, get fired for "insubordination" when I was mistreated by my other boss, S.
I did not wish to file complaints about my suspicions because I thought my actions would be misconstrued as "getting even" for getting fired. I reported it afterward and that's exactly how it was treated. But this is not why I come out now. I have been in contact with another former employee who worked there and she also shares my suspicions. I didn't want to pursue such allegations because this company is in the position to help many, many struggling people. But how can they be serving the best interest of others if funds are misappropriated? I'm sure a quick comparison check with salaries and spending habits could be revealing as well.
I pray my suspicions are wrong. I don't want them to be true. It could help a very valuable company that helps some of the most needy in our communities. But I can no longer stay quiet on this issue. Can someone do anything about this? I left March 2007. And I do not hold a grudge about this. And I would never choose to work for this company again due to the way the people are treated there. A simple audit into exploring how many people were fired or forced to quit that worked for my two bosses would raise a red flag high up into the atmosphere on that merit alone.
What can be done? I'm only one small voice speaking up amid some pretty powerful people that don't care who they mow down along the way. |
