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Client NewsNews Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ASA Files Suit Against Former Executive Director for Theft and Fraud- Individual stole approximately $200,000 over four years - April 27, 2006 (PHOENIX, AZ)The Arizona Students Association today filed a civil lawsuit against Maceo Brown, the organizations former executive director, after finding that Mr. Brown had been stealing money from ASA and covering it up by doctoring financial statements, altering budgets and destroying financial records. ASA, the nonprofit advocacy organization for Arizonas public university students, also is cooperating fully with an Arizona Attorney Generals office investigation into Mr. Browns activities. Upon learning of a few thousand dollars missing from ASAs bank account, members of the board, which is made up of 22 students representing the six public universities in Arizona, confronted Brown, who promptly resigned. The board immediately alerted the Arizona Attorney Generals office and hired a forensic accountant and legal counsel. Soon after, the investigation uncovered an elaborate history of deception and fraud by Brown that resulted in his bilking ASA of more than $200,000 over a four-year period. We are shocked and outraged, said Jess Koldoff, chairman of the ASA Board of Directors and student body president at Northern Arizona University. We are filing our own lawsuit against Mr. Brown in effort to recoup the stolen funds and will do everything in our power to ensure that we get back the students money. ASA also is working to put in place stronger safeguards to ensure that this type of situation never happens again. We learned a tough lesson, like many other organizations that have been victims of manipulative individuals determined to steal, said Koldoff. We now realize that a student-driven nonprofit needs to have the same high financial management and accounting standards as any other professional association and we are working diligently to put those systems in place. The ASA board of directors sought and is receiving counsel from various professional accounting and financial management experts including accountants and attorneys who helped the board put together a plan of action. The board is immediately taking the following action steps to make that a reality: 1. The board is revising its bylaws, policies and procedures to strengthen its auditing and financial oversight authority. Some examples of changes that are being made include having the Finance Committee review of ASA bank statements on a monthly basis and perform internal audits twice a year. 2. ASA is planning a formal annual board training in fiscal oversight, financial management and fraud detection. 3. A student board member will now chair every ASA meeting, instead of the executive director, to return ownership of the organization to the students. 4. The ASA board will require that the staff present regular financial statements at board meetings. 5. ASA will commission independent financial audits every fiscal year. 6. The board is creating an ASA alumni advisory council to establish institutional memory and continuity and to serve as a source of professional and historical insight. 7. Financial duties will be split among board members and staff to ensure that no one staff person has complete control of ASAs finances. We take our responsibility on behalf of the students of Arizona very seriously and these steps will help us prevent and detect fraud going forward, said Koldoff. And despite this unfortunate situation, the Arizona Students Association remains committed to advocating on behalf of access and affordability to higher education. This semester, ASA lobbied aggressively on behalf of Arizona students at the state legislature, urging our elected officials to fully fund the universities and increase the state appropriation to financial aid. ASA sponsored a Student Day of Advocacy at the Capitol to reinforce this agenda. And the organization launched the Make Textbooks Affordable campaign on campuses across the state. About ASA The Arizona Students Association is the statewide student advocacy association for all 120,000 public university students in Arizona and has been in existence since 1974. ASA helped get a voting student regent on the Arizona Board of Regents, proposed and won passage of the Arizona Financial Aid Trust Fund and coordinates the national award-winning Students Are Voting Everywhere (SAVE) program that registers students to vote, educates them on the issues and helps turn out the student vote on each campus. For more information, visit www.azstudents.org. ALL darbyDarnit NEWS RELEASES ALL CLIENT NEWS RELEASES
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