A staff member of the Georgetown Soccer Association has been accused of stealing more than $82,000 from their non-profit organization over a period of 15 months, according to an arrest affidavit and a letter released by the GSA to parents, players, staff and sponsors.
The letter states that during a review of the GSA's financial data, board members discovered several irregularities within their cash accounts from February 2016 until May 2017. As a result, the organization took a number of actions, including the immediate dismissal of the staff member.
The Georgetown Police Department confirmed her identity as Amy Ward, a bookkeeper for the association.
According to an arrest affidavit for Ward, she allegedly made unauthorized purchases with the non-profit's debit cards, took cash from the concession stand, registration fees and from the organization's bank account, resulting in the loss of $82,861.31.
The non-profit association said it notified the Georgetown Police Department, who launched an extensive internal audit to review the club's financial records from January 2016 to June 2017. Due to the magnitude of the impact, board members released the results to the GPD, board directors said. GSA President Michele Saire said the audit revealed that money was not properly documented through their bookkeeping software and that entries didn't match up with bank statements. Saire added that the organization took in little cash during the theft incidents and player payments had not been recorded since August 2016.
The GSA Board has since taken several steps to reduce the risk of this situation re-occurring including creating a better check-and-balance method for cash transactions and more frequent audits of financial records, according to the letter.
"We are very disappointed that we, like many other organizations, have become the victims of theft. Despite the loss of funds, all of the club's liabilities remain current with no accumulated debt and all of our services to out members have been and will be delivered as committed by the club," the letter states.
Georgetown police said Ward served the association since June of 2013 and that she turned herself into authorities voluntarily. With her attorney present, Ward admitted to police to stealing money from the concession stand deposits, player registration payments, referee payments, and using the GSA debit card for personal purchases.
