Anita Collins, a 67 year old employee in the finance office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York has been charged with siphoning $1 million in donations. Ms. Collins was arraigned last week on charges of grand larceny and falsifying business records and faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted.
Church and law enforcement officials report that over a seven year time span, Collins created fake invoices, sending them to the archdiocese and then issuing checks to accounts she controlled. All of the some 450 checks were in amounts just below the $2,500 threshold that would have required a supervisor’s approval.
The archdiocese reported that it did not conduct a criminal background check on Ms. Collins when she was hired in 2003. If they had, they would have learned that Ms. Collins had previously plead guilty to criminal charges in fraud schemes at other New York employers in 1986 and 1999.
The archdiocese says it now conducts criminal background checks on all employees.
Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/nyregion/new-york-archdiocese-bookkeeper-charged-with-stealing-1-million.html