New Bedford Visitors Bureau Bookkeeper Embezzles $11K
State Auditor Suzanne Bump has released the results of an audit performed on the Southeastern Massachusetts Convention and Visitors Bureau based in New Bedford.
The audit reveals a bookkeeper hired by the Bureau embezzled over $11,000 during a four-month period in 2011. Auditor Bump tells WBSM News the bookkeeper initially pocketed $5,000 in fraudulent checks, and the Bureau kept her on with the agreement she would pay back the money.
The state audit also revealed the Southeastern Massachusetts Convention and Visitors Bureau failed to match a $62,000 dollar-for-dollar state grant last year, only coughing up $12,000.
Auditor Bump is recommending the Bureau refer the bookkeeper to law enforcement officials, and that the SMCVB review it's policies pertaining to internal theft and conflict of interest.