As 2007 came to an end, we realized that we were in pretty dire straights financially.  The recession, the housing market crisis and the job situation were all affecting our donations and adoptions.  For the first time we were going to have to dip into our “emergency funds” to ensure the continuing operation of our shelter.  On December 31^st, we discovered those funds were gone. 

In May of 2001, Joan Cookfair, who was at the time dying of bone cancer, left Feline Friends her animal welfare group, Helping Hands to Animals.  In the presence of attorneys and board members of both Helping Hands to Animals and Feline Friends, legal papers were signed stating, “Helping Hands will turn over their assets to Feline Friends.  Helping Hands will continue to help generate money for Feline Friends thus they will continue to serve their mission.”

Part of the assets was a bank account containing $11,290.69.  We tried to never tap into that money.  That was our money set aside for a rainy day.  It was our safety net and it was gone.  Here’s what we have since learned, (without any names being named, because this is now as of Wednesday, May 28^th 2008, an active investigation.)

1. We had a volunteer for a couple of years. He and his wife cleaned one or two days a week. He became the treasurer for Feline Friends.  He also wrote some grants for us.  On November 21^st of 2004, however, he sent me his letter of resignation.

2. On March 17^th of 2005, almost five months after his resignation, our veterinarian and new grant writer, Dr. Don Meredith, had to write to this former volunteer requesting that he please stop accessing our bank account information which we could see had happened as recently as the week prior.

3. On September 17 of 2006 we decided to let Helping Hands to Animals as a group become inactive since our legal documents stated that it was only to continue to exist as a means to help raise funds for Feline Friends or not at all.  We were not using it to solicit funds in any way so we let it dissolve.

4. It appears that former volunteer must have been stalking the Sunbiz website and keeping as close an eye on it as he was on our bank accounts.  On September 17^th of 2007, exactly one year later, he reactivated our former group with a new set of board members, while still using OUR tax ID number.

5. Then, on October 24^th of 2007, with those new documents from Sunbiz, he went to our bank and met with his friend and neighbor, a Suntrust employee.  They simply dismissed the two signature cards that had existed for the account since the account was created. The two signers were our director, Cindy Weber, and the former co-director who retired in January of 2006.  Neither one was contacted by the bank to see if this third party had some sort of right or permission to, for lack of a better word, “hijack” our account.  Even though by law, all business accounts are required to have two signers as a protection, he listed his whole new board of directors as “not a signer” for the account followed by their actual signatures.  We now know that at least one of those signatures was forged. He, himself, was the only one listed as a “signer.”  At the same time, he and the employee changed the address on the account ensuring that we not receive any information on the changes.

6. Two days later, on October 26^th of 2007, he withdrew all of the $11,290.69 in the form of a check.

That brings us back to the beginning when Cindy discovered the theft on December 31st.  She filed a police report on January 5^th of 2008. Once we were issued a case number, Suntrust Bank began an Internal Fraud Investigation, which they then almost immediately kicked back out, because what we call a theft, they call an error and say that since it took us sixty four days to notice the “error”, it falls outside of their time frame for culpability. 

We also learned that the justice system is very slow.  Almost five months after filing our police report, the case has just now made it to the top of the cases in the Economic Crimes Division.  We are trying to not be too hopeful, but we are excited that justice might be served.  If you are a praying person, the shelter and it’s kitties could use any good energies you could send our way.  We will keep you updated.