Crisis Ministries alleged embezzlement incident: Questions & Answers
June 10, 2013
What is Carol Libby’s employment status? – She has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the investigation, effective today, June 10, 2013.
How long was she employed there? 10 years
Had there been any issues with her in the past? None
Was this unexpected? Yes
Was there anything different or amiss that may have given a sign/clue? No
How is the organization ensuring that funds donated are going where they were intended to go/serve? There is an annual audit, and various grants are monitored to ensure against this type of incident
How did Crisis Ministries discover the missing funds? The organization was contacted by Wells Fargo Fraud Department Thursday afternoon.
Does Crisis Ministries intend to perform an audit to investigate how much money may have been embezzled? Yes
What kind of access did Libby have to the funds? There was no direct access to funds- she handled the typical duties and responsibilities associated with her position as CFO.
What accounts was the money taken from and what was the money intended for? Operating accounts and routine operating expenses
Was there any financial consequence due to the missing funds? Due to the financial stability of the organization, and insurance coverage in place, there should not be any program or service impacted.
Have there been any additional safeguards or controls to prevent any future thefts? This was just discovered late Thursday and all procedures and what happened are under review, and the organization is consulting with its outside financial partners- bank, CPA and so forth, to determine where and how this could have occurred.
Was Libby CFO throughout the period she’s currently accused of stealing checks (June 2012 – May 2013)? Yes
Did anybody at Crisis Ministries notice the checks were missing before the call came from Wells Fargo Loss Prevention last week? No- there were not checks missing.
Has Crisis Ministries been able to recover any of the missing funds? It’s early in the investigation, internal and external, but the organization is working diligently to recoup the funds and to review all procedures.
Who were the missing checks made out to? Various vendors, whom we don’t feel comfortable revealing at this time, but we will work to ensure that not one of them is shortchanged.
Has Crisis Ministries met its fundraising goal yet for the new shelter buildings? When are the new facilities expected to be open? Fundaising is on track and the facilities are expected to be completed by the summer of 2014.
