May 2008 171
WE’RE STILL WAITING for the
auditors to complete the year-end report so I
have no statements to present this month.
I received this interesting story about a club
in Colorado that learned some expensive
lessons about trust and caution. Following
is a report by Bruce Ream, president of the
Jefco Aeromod’lers.
“From the day most of us enter into the
fun of building and flying model airplanes,
we begin to fly with people who share a
passion for our hobby. All of us will find
people within the hobby who we come to
know as good friends and people we can
trust but beware, this trust can sometimes
be betrayed.
“I would like to share with all in the
hobby what Jefco Aeromod’lers of
Colorado recently went through when we
found out that all of the funds in our
treasury were gone. As we look back on this
event we keep coming back to the question
of how this could happen and what we
should have been doing to prevent the
catastrophic event.
“We are a large club with over 280
members and therefore our treasury has
always had a fair balance. As with all clubs
it is sometimes hard to get people to
volunteer for positions on the board and
when a member steps forth to volunteer to
be the treasurer a sigh of relief goes off that
somebody will do this difficult and time
consuming job, but beware. This is our
story.
“Clue #1: The club bent the rules which
required a two-year membership to be an
officer for this person to become the
treasure. He had only been a member for
one year. As it started out and as far as the
board was concerned, everything appeared
to be in order with bills being paid and
reports from the treasurer that we had
money in the bank. We had other board
members’ names on the account, so it could
be checked on by other board members.
“Clue #2: It wasn’t very long before the
treasurer asked the board if he could open
another account because a different bank
was going to offer us a better deal on our
credit card machine and we could have a
debit card for miscellaneous small charges.
He asked other board members to sign the
signature cards for this new account but as
we later learned the signature cards were
never turned into the bank.
“Clue #3: The treasurer volunteered to
run our biggest fund raising event. This
event generates large amounts of cash and
of course this was turned over to the
treasurer for deposit in the club account.
Nobody asked for a receipt for this cash
which later turned out to be a major
problem when we had to prove how much
money had been stolen.
“Clue #4: As time went on and people
would ask for the treasurer’s report, he
would report this much money in the
account and everybody took him at his
word. Some bills were not getting paid on
time and when he was questioned about it
he would say that he ‘sent the check but
would check on it.’ Soon afterward the
person or company would be paid.
“Clue #5: The treasurer reported that the
club was running low on funds and that we
should consider raising the dues. When he
was questioned about this he would say we
have enough to pay the bills but if we kept
spending the way we were that we could
run out. Many of the older members started
to question how this could happen given our
past record of having substantial amounts of
money in the bank and our spending habits
hadn’t changed.
“Final Clue: In order to cover up the fact
that he had stolen all the money and the
accounts were overdrawn, he reported to the
club that the State of Colorado had fined the
club for our monthly drawing and that they
had seized all of our monies—over $15,000.
It only took overnight for most of the club
members to realize what had happened to
the club money.
“The next day we contacted the Denver
Police Department who referred us to the
District Attorney’s office. I believe that one
of the smartest things we did as a club was
to engage a criminal attorney who agreed to
take our case and talk to the DA on our
behalf and file civil charges at the same
time. Throughout the whole process he
guided us as to what our next steps were
and provided counseling as to what we
could expect as the case proceeded through
the justice system.
“After a long investigation the DA’s
office determined that a theft had occurred
and that charges against the treasurer would
be filed. Theft of over $15,000 in Colorado
is a Class 4 felony. He was arrested and
posted bond.
“As president, and along with our new
treasurer, we spent many hours going
through bank statements and old records in
order to prove what had been stolen. Just
getting access to these records with the
banks proved to be a big task because his
was the only name on the account.
“He pleaded not guilty and tried to say
that most of the charges on the debit card
were for club activities. We again had to go
through records to prove they were not club
expenses.
“In the end and after many months he
did plead guilty and was sentenced to six
years in state prison plus provide restitution
in the amount of $41,365.52. We found out
during the trial that this was his fourth
felony conviction.
“The court also said that if he or his
family could reimburse our club for
$20,000 they would consider reducing his
sentence. He is still in prison and the club
has received $20,000. If and when he gets
out he will be required to provide restitution
of an additional $21,365.52.
“So what have we done? We now
require two signatures on our checks: the
treasurer’s and that of one other board
member. At each board meeting the
treasurer must bring the original monthly
bank statement to the meeting and show it
to another board member. We require that
once a year our books are audited by
someone outside the club.
“This has been a learning experience for
all of us who have been through it. If you
are a board member of your club you may
come to the conclusion that we did. Just
because you can fly an airplane doesn’t
mean that you should be trusted.
“Our club is fully recovered because of
the generosity of all who have contributed
money and time to make this the great club
it is. We have the best field in Colorado and
invite all of you to visit and fly with us any
time you’re in Colorado.”
A-B-C Always Be Courteous. Until later.
Doug Holland
3517 Fernwood Dr.
Raleigh NC 27612
Home: (919) 787-5163
Work: (919) 781-7550
Executive Vice President
Doug Holland; [email protected]
staff pulled out all the stops in creating a
very nice facility, including parking for drycamping
RVs, in less than 60 days.
Aircraft ranging from Tournament of
Champions-size competition airplanes to
.40-size trainers, and powered with
anything from electric to turbines, tested
the new site during the dedication day.
Plans are already underway to add a few
hundred feet to the 600-foot runway so it
can accommodate more sophisticated
turbine aircraft.
The Florence facility is a win for the
city, a win for modelers in the Southwest,
and a win for those of us who like the
camaraderie of an RV camping experience
coupled with a two- or three-day flying
event.
See you in Florence!
Flying Site Assistance
Continued from page 170
05amanews.qxp 3/21/2008 3:12 PM Page 171
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/05
Page Numbers: 171