March 15, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
A pair of former officials at the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club in New York received fines, not jail time, after pleading guilty to grand larceny and obstructing government administration for their roles in the misallocation of nearly $1.2-million in museum funds, reports The New York Times.
Count Jack B. Siegel, author of Charity Governance,
as more than a little angry at the sentence.
A judge has ordered the charity’s former executive director, Charles Rosen, to pay a $5,000 fine and $38,575 in restitution. The charity’s former deputy executive director, Jeffrey Aulenbach, will repay $32,363 along with a $5,000 fine.
Mr. Siegel, a lawyer and accountant who is the chief executive officer of Auto Didactix, a Chicago company that publishes instructional software on legal and accounting issues, believes jail would have been the best sentence.
“For some reason, people, including regulators, seem to view theft from nonprofits differently than thefts from businesses and individuals,” Mr. Siegel writes. “That can be the only explanation why we continue to see these sort of plea bargains and sentencing decisions. What message does it send to those inside nonprofits who may be tempted by poor internal controls and lax board oversight?”
Discuss your thoughts on this topic by clicking on the comment link just below this posting.
