Thank you for ALL of your help and advice. I took the information to the law. It is being looked at. The worst part is that this lady profitted over $50,000 in 8 years, and has nothing to show for it. She did leave money in the checking account, but just $3,000. I think of all of those kids who went out to sell stuff, thinking it was going to help the school and she kept it. I think about all of the things the school could of done with that money. My son is in 6th grade now and this is his last year at the elementary. Too bad he couldn't of enjoy some of the new things the school would of had. If they had the money.
a lawyer isn't necessary. Each police dept. has a fraud dept. Make an appointment, bring your paperwork and show them what you have. They will pursue it, if you have enough evidence.
It sounds as though legal action may now be necessary. I would contact a lawyer and ask for their opinion. Next step after that would be to hire/obtain the services of an accountant and have them perform an audit. You may need to have the lawyer write up a letter, that would be delivered via certified courrier, that would indicate that there is going to be an audit and if, per your group's Bylaws, she is unwilling to assist/provide all of the financial receipts/documents, then legal action will be forth-coming.
I mean, based on what you have explain, it appears as though this person has imbezzeled almost $20,000!!!
I would recommend not letting it go and to take it to the fullest extent of the law. But again, talk with a lawyer and see what they have to say about the issue.
You might ask the bank to help you out. A lot of banks would have a fraud dept and you might ask if they could help you sort this out as a favor.
You might also need to get the cops involved. I would keep this on the downlow for the time being until you truely have this figured out. You might also ask the other officers to get more involved just so it doesn't look like you are out to get her.
I got the bank statements back from the bank on the other president. It does not look good! There were checks written to herself for $400 and said for school supplies, that never showed up. Checks wrote to a place that no one knows who they are. The place is called J & M Enterprise. The same first letters in both her and her husband's name? Maybe they do have an enterprise going? And no cash was deposited during the time a the fundraisers. Now, what do I do. The school can't really get involved, because the money doesn't going through them. The school didn't even know how much money was made in the fundraisers. Any help would be greatly appreciated. You can send it to my mone email too.
See if you can find an accountant that will volunteer their services and try and reconstruct the account for you. They call it forensic accounting and they can dig up everything and try and figure out what she did those years. You certainly have reason for concern and should also concentrate on firming up your bylaws so this cannot happen again. Always have a Treasurer and another officer co-signers on the account so one person is not in control of the account. Always have an audit completed when changing hands. Ensure that all officers know that they are fully responsible for their actions relating ot the PTO and appropriate action will be taken with any/all misappropriations.
You may not be able to get all the details on what she did all those years, but you can definitely see what large withdrawls were made & maybe to whom, balances and where the checks went. You shouldn't rule out getting your board of ed involved with their legal team for any legal action taken against this parent if something turns up.
