By:  Diane Benjamin

Evidently the people have learned nothing from Dixon Illinois.  Money corrupts everybody from City leaders to church secretaries.  Putting trust in a person with a checkbook, without common sense protections against theft, it like putting up a sign:  Free money here.  The sad part is it’s not that difficult to prevent.

The local sheriffs union is the latest victim.  $100,000 gone.  The great organizations that would have benefited from that money now will not.  The guys charged with “protect and serve” never saw it coming.  They see crime and corruption every day, but trusted when trust shouldn’t have been given.

Whoever took the $100,000 didn’t do it all at once.  Banks go nuts with any deposits over $10,000.  They have to report these transactions to the government – supposedly to track drug money.

Most likely the money was pilfered over months.  If that person did not have the ability to sign checks AND reconcile the bank statements the theft either would not have happened or it would have been caught with the first theft.  Trust but verify!

Has it finally sunk in?  Yes, it can look like you are accusing somebody of theft when protections are put in place.  It’s uncomfortable to tell a friend the procedures will now be changed.  Yes it takes a little time every month for someone else to read the bank statement.

It’s not nearly has uncomfortable as reporting you lost $100,000 and all the good things you wanted to do you now can’t.

Now, go find out what controls your organization has.