Financial Records of Booster Clubs Probed
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a $34,000 discrepancy in the financial records of two Newbury Park music booster clubs, officials said Wednesday.
Newbury Park High and Sequoia Middle School music booster clubs--nonprofit groups made up of parent volunteers who raise money for the school band and music programs--were audited earlier this year by the Conejo Valley Unified School District, said Richard Simpson, assistant superintendent of instructional services.
“In that audit, we found discrepancies,” Simpson said, noting that audits are often done when there is a change in club officials. “The nature is such that we turned over the books to the Sheriff’s Department.”
Simpson said auditors reviewed club and bank account records from 1994 to 1998 and that at least $34,000 cannot be accounted for. That figure, he added, is expected to grow as new statements are reviewed.
“I anticipate it’s probably not going to come to a conclusion for a month and a half because we have to serve search warrants for bank records,” said Det. Mike Christensen of the sheriff’s forgery fraud unit in Thousand Oaks.
“Grand theft is basically the charge that we’re looking at,” he added. “If the dollar amount is over $400, it could be a felony.”
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