Ex-employees of Hands on Miami charged with stealing from charity [image: Get Adobe Flash player] <http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer> ** BY DAVID OVALLE [email protected]
Two former employees of Hands on Miami have been arrested for allegedly embezzling thousands from the well-known charity organization. Debbie Lightbourn, 51, and Bruce Howard Smith, 45, were booked into jail Friday afternoon on three charges each of third-degree grand theft. They are suspected of altering payroll records to give themselves unauthorized bonuses worth $24,800, even as the financially strapped organization laid off four employees, according to a search warrant filed in December. Smith, an office manager whose salary was paid by United Way of Miami-Dade, was fired Aug. 29. Lightbourn, the organization's controller, resigned on Sept. 5. Earlier, Smith's attorney denied the allegations, saying the nonprofit's chief executive authorized the ''informal loans'' to his client and even directed him to spread the payments out over three paychecks to avoid detection by the Hands on Miami board. Created in 1993, Hands on Miami coordinates 70 volunteer opportunities a month, from reading bedtime stories to children to cleaning Monkey Jungle to mentoring children. Sponsors include some of the largest corporations in South Florida, including Burger King, Publix and The Miami Herald. The nonprofit receives a large amount of funding from Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami. -- "I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, and at times hard to handle, but if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." ~Marilyn Monroe --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Black Focus Inc." group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Black-Focus-Inc?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
