The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has recently announced that it has charged a 55-year-old Minneapolis man with theft by swindle, or embezzlement, after it says he stole $155,000 from the nonprofit he worked for. The former director of food services at Open Arms of Minnesota allegedly set up contracts with several other nonprofits within the Twin Cities to provide food, but then deposited the money in his personal account instead of with the nonprofit.
Despite this alleged embezzlement, Open Arms said that not a single person was affected and it did not miss a single meal to its partner organizations. It is unclear, then, what first led members of Open Arms to suspect the former director of embezzlement. WCCO CBS says that it was only in January that the organization discovered evidence of the director’s thefts. It is unknown for how long the alleged thefts had been going on.
The 55-year-old apparently worked with several charitable groups, setting up meals and filling out contracts with the groups. He had told his supervisors, however, that there were no meal deliveries actually being made and that he was merely engaging in feasibility studies. The money that the groups then provided was deposited in his account.
If this man is able to clear his name of the embezzlement charges, he may still have difficulty convincing future employers that he was innocent. Because this crime is a breach of trust, many people are reluctant to trust someone accused of the crime. And because this was a breach of trust against an employer, future employers may not be willing to hire him.
Source: CBS Minnesota, “Food Shelf Employee Arrested, Charged With Embezzlement,” Aug. 6, 2012
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