Woman jailed six months for defrauding group
The Lovesick Lake Native Women’s Association is still struggling to get back on its feet a year after its former financial officer defrauded it of at least $75,000.
Lori Vanluven got six months in jail for her crime after pleaded to fraud over $5,000.
Michelle Osborne, general manager of the organization, said Vanluven had been working at the Buckhorn-area facility since 2001. The association provides programs and services to the community.
Employees at the agency were given credit cards for business purchases, Osborne explained.
As financial officer, it was Vanluven’s job to recover credit cards from employees leaving the association, Osborne said, and she was supposed to cancel those cards. But she didn’t. An agreed statement of facts addressed in court stated that Vanluven used at least two of the cards to rack up $75,000 in personal expenses and purchases. Osborne said the association believes she may have used up to five credit cards with funds reaching up to $110,000, but a police audit couldn’t verify those numbers.
No one ever asked Vanluven any questions, Osborne said. She had worked there for years and any financial statements she shared were accepted at face value.
Vanluven had also had a hand in designing the organization’s financial system, Osborne said, which made it relatively easy for her to hide any discrepancies.
But the irregularities were eventually discovered. Police were called in 2012.
By then it was almost too late for the Lovesick Lake Native Women’s Association, Osborne said.
The fraud had created a financial bleed the agency didn’t think it could stem. Its finances were in chaos and reserve funds were depleted. Vanluven’s crime was threatening the livelihoods of those who considered her a trusted friend.
It’s taken more than a year for the association to get back on its feet.
The associaation is no longer located in Buckhorn.
Osborne said the group sold its building to help recuperate some of the losses.
That wasn’t so bad, she said. The organization is reaching out to the broader community and that location was no longer cen- tral to their clients.
They’re now located on Chemong Rd. and were able to keep everyone on the payroll, Osborne said.
It has had to re-evaluate and rebuild its financial policies and practices, she said. Accountability and transparency are emphasized and nothing is taken for granted.
“There’s always double, checks,” she said.
It’s been a hard lesson for the non-profit organization.
Everyone who works there is there because they want to do something good, Osborne said. There was a sense of trust among staff, and many were shocked following Vanluven’s arrest.
Osborne didn’t have much to say about Vanluven’s sentence.
Six months in jail is serious, she acknowledged, and many were expecting her to get house arrest.
Mr. Justice Rhys Morgan did order Vanluven to repay $75,000 in restitution.
“How that is going to be recovered, I don’t know,” Osborne said.
The crime forced the association to take a look at where it has been and where it is heading, she said, and now it’s just a matter of picking themselves up and moving in the right direction.
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