Chew Valley Fraud

Shocking

I suspect that as often as not it doesn't start like that. There's maybe some major temporary money problem and someone borrows a bit just for a week, or maybe some supposed money making opportunity and you use the clubs money and intend to put it back with a bit extra. But as the proverb goes the road to hell is paved with good intentions and somehow someone who didn't start off as a bad person ends up doing very bad things.

But it demonstrates why,even though its all a hassle to organise, its a very good idea for a club (or other organisation) to have all the controls in place *and followed*. If the controls had been in place so this chap couldn't have had such unmonitored access to significant sums of money maybe he'd never have started on the slippery slope, and everyone would be better off, him included.

So think about your club. Does only one person get the bank statements and check them? Does one person sign a book full of blank cheques to save trouble for the other signatory? Friends shouldn't put friends in a position where its easy to be tempted to do the wrong thing.

I'd like to believe that JimC's first paragraph is near the mark but I am inclined to think not.

Originally posted by Pierre I'd like to believe that JimC's first paragraph is near the mark but I am inclined to think not. However, I do wonder what the club's auditors were doing all these years?  It's a big chunk of money.

It was an old fashioned passbook account and I believe he forged the passbook. So presumably the other officers and auditors were shown a passbook that looked full of money even as the account was sitting empty.