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A bank official was elected as treasurer for a number of church groups and charities. He also acted as executor for a number of wills. He was skilled in handling money and, because of his social position and his attendance at church, people trusted him implicitly.
Despite these outward appearances, some of the things he did involved:
- Misuse of church funds when paying utility bills. He inflated the value of the bills and retained the balance for himself.
- Use of bank accounts in held by the church, and for which he was the only signatory. By this simple method, cheques were put into a bank account where no-one else knew they were deposited and funds were then stolen by the sole signatory.
- Charity payments were handled by this man alone and he was therefore free to steal money quite easily.
- The estates of deceased persons were handled in such a way that the offender, acting as executor, was able to remove funds for his own benefit.
The lessons to be learned from this case are:
- If you are involved in a club, society or charity, ensure that there is a regular check made of the activities of the treasurer and other officials.
- Ensure that as few accounts as possible are used and that all regular income is passed through that account.
- Consider forming a small finance sub-committee to monitor all financial matters and ensure there are regular checks of the treasurer’s activity.
- Do not trust someone because of their social standing and professional background – remember "He may appear to be respectable and smile, yet still be a villain".
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