On behalf of the board of directors, the President of the CSHCA sent a letter to members and supporters informing them of a recent fraud incident which has severely impacted the CSHCA. The July 2, 2018 letter stated:
“I am writing on behalf of the Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association (CSHCA) Executive Board to share some very unfortunate news with the membership. We are dismayed to report that the association has been a victim of fraud with regards to its’ treasury that was held at East Boston Savings Bank. This fraudulent activity resulted in the loss of approximately $11,328.00. This loss includes approximately $4,000.00 of proceeds from the Joe Chaison memorial diner fund that was planned to be used for neighborhood betterment projects.
FACTS:
On January 5th the treasurer, Nicole Chelkowski, of the CSHCA received an e-mail from what was believed to be from the CSHCA president, Desmond Rohan. The e-mail address was masked to give the appearance that the e-mail was coming from the President’s e-mail account when in fact it was not. The e-mail requested payment to a vendor. A payment via wire was made to the vendor on January 8th based on the instructions in the e-mail.
Further communication requested the account balance and additional fees for a grant application with immediate payment deadlines. Over the course of the month of January, three additional payments were made from our account to these fraudulent vendors. The total payments made from our account were $11,328.00.
Outside of the proceeds for Joe Chaisson, the membership fees collected are typically used to support local events including the Dorchester Day Parade (including the Chili Cookoff), Martin Richard Foundation One Boston Day, the annual tree lighting, and the C-11 Halloween events — to name a few. The funds are also used to maintain the website and Constant Contact account.
CONTROLS:
Going forward we will be implementing stronger controls of the CSHCA treasury as follows:
- ALL expenditures from the CSHCA account will be made with a written check. The exception to this rule will include the auto-debited monthly fees to support the website and Constant Contact account.
- Prior to making any expenditures from the CSHCA treasury, the treasurer will be required to refer to the official minutes of the meeting where a motion and support was taken to make a payment to any association or a vendor. If notes are not available, the treasurer will need to consult with the president of the Association by both an e-mail and a phone call to confirm the expense is authorized.
- A monthly treasurer report, and a copy of the current bank statement, will be reviewed and discussed at each monthly executive board meeting.
- An update of the status of the treasury will be given by the president at each monthly scheduled CSHCA General Membership meeting.
- At no time will account numbers be shared with anyone beyond the president and the treasurer of the Association.
NEXT STEPS
We have contacted local authorities and a formal police report has been filed. Additionally, we have contacted East Boston Savings Bank to determine if any of the funds may be recoverable. We have learned that the accounts where the delivery of funds were made no longer have a balance. The bank has stated we would need to seek a subpoena of each of the receiving banks to gather account details. Additionally, preliminary discussions with the investigative sergeant at C-11 indicated they could do a trace on the e-mail address to attempt to identify the IP address and owner, but due to the lapse in time from when the fraud occurred to when it was reported, the likelihood of the e-mail still being active is negligible.
We will further discuss this issue at our July executive board meeting, and encourage our members to attend. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 10th at 6:30 pm at 130 Auckland Street apartments.
Please know that we do plan to continue to pursue an investigation of these incidents. We will also seek fundraising solutions to fund the association so it can pay its operational invoices and reimburse the Joe Chaisson dinner proceeds.
We have our work cut out for us during 2018 – 2019 to get back on our feet. Thank you for your continued support. We also ask that you be vigilant and pay attention to e-mails that may the appearance of fraud, and report such activities to local police authorities. To understand more about phishing e-mails, the City of Boston Innovation & Technology department can provide you with educational resources and tips to keep you safe when using the internet…”
Members with questions are encouraged to contact the Association President. The letter (Adobe PDF format) is also available at the CSHCA website.