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A North Dakota woman was working for the Fargo Youth Commission when she decided to steal funds from charitable operations. Abbey L. McNamee was counting cash that was earned from charitable blackjack games as well as pull-tab operations for her own gain. The woman was accused of taking almost $59,000 and was charged with a Class B felony count of theft of property. An investigation was called upon by the gaming office of the city auditor and they found that the amount mentioned above had been taken from the Youth Commission.
McNamee admitted that she had stolen the money after she was caught by the investigation. She was taking money from the dealers drop boxes and she thought she had taken about $40,000. The Youth Commission holds charitable events to raise money that will then be used for programs that help elementary students like after school programs.
An email was sent out to parents who have children in the programs and it read that McNamee was not involved with the children. She worked only in the fundraising gaming sites and she did not have access to the accounts of the parents or the programs.
The commission has stated that the programming will not be affected by the theft as they have a $1 million+ budget each year and they will try to get the money back by claiming it on an insurance policy. If McNamee is convicted then there will also be a court-ordered restitution.
According to the court records, McNamee was taking the money from February 2009 to April 4th. The money was counted each night after the gambling activities took place and it is recorded on video. McNamee was taking small amounts over a long period of time to try and avoid being caught.
2011-04-15
