Saint Anselm College Employee Sentenced for Embezzling Thousands From School
“2 years of probation with six months of home confinement and ordered to pay full restitution”
This woman was very lucky to avoid jail time.
From the Department of Justice:
Danville Woman Sentenced For Embezzling More Than $66,000 From Saint Anselm College
Renee Crawford, 35, of Danville was sentenced to 2 years of probation with six months of home confinement and ordered to pay full restitution for embezzling $66,114.02 from Saint Anselm College, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Crawford was employed as the Assistant Vice President of Finance for the College. In her role, Crawford had authority to manage invoice approvals, enter vendor information, and had oversight of the Finance Office’s credit card program.
Crawford used her access to submit fraudulent invoices for a company that she created, receiving more than $44,000 from the College which she used for personal purchases. In addition, Crawford used two College issued credit cards to make personal purchases, such as family vacations and theme park tickets, totaling nearly $22,000.
According to statements made in court, Crawford is making full restitution to Saint Anselm College today.
“As the Assistant Vice President of Finance for St. Anselm College, Renee Crawford went to great lengths to submit phony receipts for thousands of dollars in personal purchases, including family vacations and theme park tickets,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.
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Comments
I’m still intrigued to notice that with each new report of embezzlement from “public institutions,” if you assume the perp was female, you would have guessed correctly in a surprising percentage of the cases.
I think there’s a confounding factor that many public institutions have a disproportionate number of women in administrative positions. There’s also the fact that women do not receive anywhere near the severity of sentencing that men do, which acts as a deterrent for the men in a position to commit white-collar crime at this level.
To me, the interesting facts are how long was this occuring undected and why only $66,114.02? Many corporations give employees “company credit cards.” Usually, the employee has to make a monthly filing with a different department matching up the specific charges on the card to vouchers, invoices or other backup documents. One possibility is that she did not understand the procedure, made the $22,000 in unjustifable expenses and got caught. I am not clear what an “Assistant Vice President” does at a college of this size, but I am sure that there is a different person in charge of looking over her shoulder and approving the charges on her company credit card.
I have read other press accounts of people stealing millions over more than a decade simply because their employer practiced “trust but don’t verify.” The fact that she was caught and prosecuted shows that the system works.