Thursday, March 11, 2010

Former Bookkeeper In Washington State Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $350K From Rotary Club

Susan E. Kinney, 48, of Redmond, Washington, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges she embezzled more than $356,000 from the the Seattle Rotary Service Foundation, where she had been employed as business manager and bookkeeper. Kinney was originally charged on 123 theft counts, but pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree theft. According to prosecutors, Kinney wrote herself and others more than 100 unauthorized checks totalling $356,173 from the charity's coffers over a five and a half year period between June 2003 and December 2008. Kinney has reportedly been affiliated with the organization for 22 years. She is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2 and is expected to receive about 5 years in prison. The thefts were revealed in late 2008 after a second bookkeeper was brought in to assist Kinney, who had near complete control over the organization's finances, according to reports. Kinney was terminated last March. We note that Kinney has a pair of Chapter 7 bankruptcies in her past, one in 1999 and the second in 2009.

Read the story here, here, here and here.

Hat tip: Reader Julie

Update (5/14/10): Kinney was sentenced to 53 months in prison.

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