COMMENTARY
Bruce Andriatch: Opportunity knocks for embezzlers
The economy might be near its lowest point ever, but there is still plenty of money to be had at jobs in Western New York.
You just have to be willing to steal it.
Embezzlement, whether it’s from a doctor’s office, a town government or a nonprofit organization, is the hottest and ugliest trend in Western New York since Zubaz pants.
One of the more disturbing cases came to light last week when the Rev. F. Norman Sullivan, who for two decades had been running Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Cheektowaga, pleaded guilty to systematically ripping off his parishioners of more than $213,000.
Sullivan gave no explanation why he did it. Others before him have offered a litany of excuses, including a family member’s health problem, post-divorce marital troubles and simply living beyond their means.
That all may be true. But what the thieves never say—and which is also always true—is that they stole the money because they could.
Thomas P. Malecki, a partner in the local accounting firm of Drescher& Malecki, said opportunity is always the key ingredient in any embezzling recipe. In many cases, after the embezzler is caught, an auditor or someone within the organization realizes that one person had too much control over all the money coming in and going out. That’s why auditors tell organizations to segregate money handling duties.
“If you’re receiving the cash, you shouldn’t also be recording the cash in the general ledger, you should not also be depositing the cash in the bank,” he said. “Because if one person has all that control, it allows for opportunity—the opportunity to manipulate.”
Again, consider the case of Sullivan. When he became pastor, according to authorities, he changed the rules at his parish so he, and only he, was in charge of the money, making his scheme harder to uncover.
In local government, a movement is afoot to consolidate the duties of the offices of town clerk and receiver of taxes, the two offices where money flows in. The idea is to consolidate and save money. There have been cases where state auditors have suggested those two offices be separated, precisely because putting them together creates an opportunity for embezzlement. But Malecki, whose firm handles audits for most of the towns in Erie County, said the offices can be merged effectively as long as the money- handling duties are not handled by one person. That’s why merger has proved problematic in smaller communities; sometimes the office is really just one person.
Malecki, who has been doing audits for nearly 30 years, said he can’t remember a time when there had been more cases of embezzlement. Neither could Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita or John Doscher, head of the office’s White-Collar Crime Bureau. Sedita said the economy has a lot to do with the spike in in-house thievery. That’s why he is pleased that the county provided money in his budget to do forensic accounting, the type of work that helped him convict Sullivan and will help catch other embezzlers.
It’s not easy to do. Doscher, who has been going after embezzlers for 21 years, said they are almost always the most trustworthy person in their organization, the last person anyone would suspect of being a crook.
“It’s this person’s job to watch the money, but it’s nobody’s job to watch this person,” he said.
Malecki said he tells organizations that having another set of eyes on that person, to audit what they do, is the best way to not become the next victim. He likened that kind of oversight to a road sign that says speed limits are enforced by radar. Because whether it’s speeding or embezzling, sometimes the best deterrent is the fear of getting caught.
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