Former Scout Official Admits Theft : $22,000 Scheme Uncovered by Curiosity Over Lunch Bill

The former controller for the Los Angeles Boy Scouts Council pleaded guilty Friday to stealing $22,000 from the organization in a sophisticated scheme involving false entries in a Scout computer.

Garland C. Groom, 43, was caught only because of another Scout official’s curiosity about a $30 lunch tab, Scout Executive Edward C. Jacobs said.

Groom, who is free on bail, entered his guilty plea at a preliminary hearing before Municipal Judge Rand Schrader. He will be sentenced Feb. 21 in Superior Court, Detective Gary Sims of Rampart Division said. He was fired by the Scouts in July after an audit.

Complex Operation

Groom’s scheme was “was very sophisticated,” the council’s new chief financial officer, Tom Kolin, said.

“Groom was the only one here who knew what our computers could or couldn’t do and he was the only one who could program the computers. . . . He programmed to produce records showing ‘Company ABC’ was paid, but when we tracked it down we found the check was made out to ‘Garland Groom.’ ”

Kolin said audits showed that the money Groom took included $2,300 paid the IRS for his personal income taxes.

The scheme came unraveled after Groom had lunch at a Victoria Station restaurant in May with Robert Hebbert, the Scout council’s activities director. Hebbert said when the $30 check came he put up cash for his half, but Groom said he was out of cash. Hebbert said Groom then pocketed the cash and paid the entire tab by credit card.

Inquiry Suggested

“I’m not for charging too many lunches to the Scouts so I suggested someone look at his expense account,” Hebbert said. Groom had billed the Scouts for the lunch and an inquiry began.

Groom was hired by the Scouts three years ago. For the last two years he has been on formal probation after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to two counts of stealing funds from a labor union, Operating Engineers Local 12. Scout officials said they learned of the probation from Detective Sims after they fired Groom.

Groom’s thefts bear no relation to a financial crisis that has forced layoffs at the Los Angeles Boy Scout Council. There is a $920,000 deficit in this year’s $5.2-million Los Angeles Boy Scout Council budget, Jacobs and Kolin said.

The deficit has forced the elimination of five staff positions at the council. Services to 55,500 boys and girls served by the council in the city, the southeast suburbs and the Torrance area will not be affected, Jacobs said.

Deficit Covered

To handle the deficit, United Way Inc. has advanced the Los Angeles Boy Scout Council $237,000 and Security Pacific National Bank has extended a $600,000 loan, Kolin said. The council’s 150 board members and other top supporters are being asked to contribute $750,000, on top of their usual gifts, by March 15 to eliminate the deficit, Kolin added.

The Los Angeles council’s deficit resulted from the method used to account for the 240 or so boats that are donated to the council each year. Kolin said the boats were listed on Scout records at the value each donor reported as a charitable deduction on his tax return.

The council then spent money on the assumption that the boats, when sold, would generate cash equal to the listed value, Kolin said. However, when sold through boat brokers, the boats often brought in far less cash.

Future gifts of boats will be listed on the books at only 40% of their donation value, he said. The Scouts maintain a fleet of 43 boats.

Inner-City Efforts

The Los Angeles Boy Scout Council has been a national leader in developing alternative programs, especially its In-School Scouting program for poor inner-city youngsters that relies on paid leaders to teach Scouting basics.

During the last nine years, when the cost of living nearly doubled, the Scout council budget grew nearly fourfold.