$140K Stolen from AR Sports Hall of Fame
By: Marci Manley
Updated: January 4, 2013
The Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) museum is a collection of memories from the state's golden moments in sports.
But unlike touchdowns and national championships, an employee suspected of embezzling from the organization's funds may be a memory the nonprofit would rather forget.
"The president gave us information that they had been the victim of an employee who had been taking money in some form or fashion," said North Little Rock Police Sgt. Brian Dedrick.
A North Little Rock Police report says a now terminated employee stole $140,000 through personal purchases on the nonprofit's credit card over a six-year period, an average of $20,000 or more a year.
The report goes on to say that President Andrew Meadors believes the employee then used nonprofit funds to pay off the credit card bills.
Sgt. Dedrick said that's a more protracted period of time than they usually see in a case of employee theft.
"Sometimes it doesn't go on this long because normally there's security measures in place where someone notices it," he said. "In this case, I don't know what the details are or why it went on so long."
When KARK contacted ASHOF Executive Director Ray Tucker, he referred us to President Andrew Meadors. Meadors, in turn, would not comment on the record and referred us to the organization's attorney Mike Moore.
Moore, also wouldn't comment other than to say they were going to leave the situation up to law enforcement and allow them to complete their investigation.
The missing funds, discovered at a less-than-perfect time for the organization, which has been raising funds to build a conference center near its museum at Verizon Arena.
Since 2011, a one million dollar federal grant was awarded by the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce for construction.
Act 528 in the Arkansas General Assembly regular session of 2011 also awarded 700,000 to ASHOF for the conference center.
In the past six months, the city of North Little Rock set aside $100,000 for the organization as well, according to the finance department.
Moore wouldn't comment on the investigation into the missing funds, but he did say he believed taxpayer funds were kept in a separate account that were not affected by the embezzlement reported to police.
When KARK asked for a copy of the internal audit conducted into ASHOF's finances, Moore said the organization had taken the stance that as a private non-profit, it was exempt from Freedom of Information Act requirements, despite the large amounts of public funds it had been awarded.
Our request, subsequently, was denied.
When asked the about the possibility of public funds being part of the stolen funds, Sgt. Dedrick could not say for sure.
"We're not deep enough into it yet to know exactly where those monies came from," he said. "It's unfortunate that it happened. It's unfortunate that it went on for so long. But at least we are aware of it now and investigating."
KARK did attempt to contact the former employee President Meadors told police was believed to have stolen the funds.
Our phone calls to that former employee went unreturned.
But unlike touchdowns and national championships, an employee suspected of embezzling from the organization's funds may be a memory the nonprofit would rather forget.
"The president gave us information that they had been the victim of an employee who had been taking money in some form or fashion," said North Little Rock Police Sgt. Brian Dedrick.
A North Little Rock Police report says a now terminated employee stole $140,000 through personal purchases on the nonprofit's credit card over a six-year period, an average of $20,000 or more a year.
The report goes on to say that President Andrew Meadors believes the employee then used nonprofit funds to pay off the credit card bills.
Sgt. Dedrick said that's a more protracted period of time than they usually see in a case of employee theft.
"Sometimes it doesn't go on this long because normally there's security measures in place where someone notices it," he said. "In this case, I don't know what the details are or why it went on so long."
When KARK contacted ASHOF Executive Director Ray Tucker, he referred us to President Andrew Meadors. Meadors, in turn, would not comment on the record and referred us to the organization's attorney Mike Moore.
Moore, also wouldn't comment other than to say they were going to leave the situation up to law enforcement and allow them to complete their investigation.
The missing funds, discovered at a less-than-perfect time for the organization, which has been raising funds to build a conference center near its museum at Verizon Arena.
Since 2011, a one million dollar federal grant was awarded by the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce for construction.
Act 528 in the Arkansas General Assembly regular session of 2011 also awarded 700,000 to ASHOF for the conference center.
In the past six months, the city of North Little Rock set aside $100,000 for the organization as well, according to the finance department.
Moore wouldn't comment on the investigation into the missing funds, but he did say he believed taxpayer funds were kept in a separate account that were not affected by the embezzlement reported to police.
When KARK asked for a copy of the internal audit conducted into ASHOF's finances, Moore said the organization had taken the stance that as a private non-profit, it was exempt from Freedom of Information Act requirements, despite the large amounts of public funds it had been awarded.
Our request, subsequently, was denied.
When asked the about the possibility of public funds being part of the stolen funds, Sgt. Dedrick could not say for sure.
"We're not deep enough into it yet to know exactly where those monies came from," he said. "It's unfortunate that it happened. It's unfortunate that it went on for so long. But at least we are aware of it now and investigating."
KARK did attempt to contact the former employee President Meadors told police was believed to have stolen the funds.
Our phone calls to that former employee went unreturned.
