The employee, who worked in a clerical role for several years, was relieved of duties in early March after Healthcare Charities’ own internal check-and-control systems revealed accounting discrepancies.
With the support of an outside audit firm, Healthcare Charities determined that $56,183 in donated funds were diverted between November 2011 and March 2012. Most of the diversions involved cash gifts. The former employee appears to have acted alone.
Now that the investigation is complete, Healthcare Charities plans to pursue full recovery of the missing funds. “We are disappointed that a member of our team appears to have violated our trust, as well as the trust of our donors and the communities we serve,” said Michael Crowley, president of Healthcare Charities. “Every dollar is important to our mission. We take this matter very seriously and accept full responsibility for the safeguarding of these vital funds.”
In response to discovering the accounting discrepancy, Healthcare Charities officials:
· Notified donors.
· Launched a thorough investigation, which included reporting the incident to law enforcement authorities and cooperating with their efforts.
· Engaged an independent accounting firm to aid in the investigation.
· Reviewed all processes and put in place additional checks and controls to safeguard donations.
“We appreciate the community’s overwhelming understanding and support as we continue through this unfortunate process. Our mission goes on,” said Lynne Spooner, vice chair of the Healthcare Charities board. “The board is pleased with the swift and decisive action taken as soon as the discrepancies were discovered. We place a high value on transparency and integrity at Healthcare Charities, and those attributes remain intact.”
Donors who have questions about their gifts to Healthcare Charities are invited to call (866) 348-4078.
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