-Caveat Lector- http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1075 310%257E,00.html
Denver Post Red Cross director facing theft charges W. Colorado funds used to buy SUV By Nancy Lofholm Denver Post Western Slope Bureau Friday, December 27, 2002 - GRAND JUNCTION - In the weeks after the 9/11 attacks, the Western Colorado Chapter of the American Red Cross collected nearly $418,000 from donors ranging from schoolkids who handed over piggy banks to businesses that wrote sizable checks to help families of victims. The former director of that chapter is now charged with stealing nearly $40,000 of those donations to buy himself a new SUV. John Drenth was fired Nov. 19 after he reportedly admitted diverting $146,000 to a local bank account instead of sending it to the national Red Cross Liberty Disaster Relief Fund, a fund intended to help those directly affected by the 9/11 attacks. Drenth was arrested this week in connection with the alleged theft after an audit revealed he spent some of the money on a personal vehicle. In an arrest affidavit filed in Mesa County Court this week, Drenth justified the alleged theft by saying "a scary Middle Eastern guy" wired the money into the account and directed him to buy the vehicle. The arrest affidavit said that Drenth performed a wire transfer of $146,000 of disaster relief fund donations in late November 2001. He placed the money in one of many small bank accounts that had been set up for donations in the wake of 9/11. The account held less than $1,000 at the time. The affidavit said the money that came from donors in 19 western Colorado counties should have been sent to national Red Cross headquarters in Washington, along with $271,877 in other donations turned over to the fund last fall. Drenth allegedly used $16,000 of the money to pay off a vehicle loan and then allegedly traded that vehicle in and used the remainder of the $40,000 to buy a new Ford Explorer that he registered in his name and used for personal driving. The Red Cross chapters do not buy vehicles for officials, and Drenth did not consult his board on the purchase, the affidavit said. The board of directors of the Grand Junction-based chapter became suspicious about the money during a routine audit last month. Drenth reportedly stalled when an auditor asked him for financial records relating to the 9/11 account at the Fruita bank. Nate Keever, president of the Western Colorado Red Cross chapter board of directors, said he obtained the records for the account and found that $39,522 had been wired to a Denver car dealer on Dec. 28, 2001, to buy the 2002 Ford. Keever said he and another board member confronted Drenth about the unauthorized use of the money and Drenth initially told them that "a scary Middle Eastern guy" had wired the money to the Fruita account. When pressed, Drenth showed the registration that listed him as the sole owner. When confronted further, Drenth allegedly said, "All right, Nate, I (messed) up." Keever immediately placed Drenth on administrative leave. The following day, the board of directors, at a regularly scheduled meeting, voted to terminate Drenth as director. He had been in the position since August 2001. A day later, the board submitted a theft report to the Grand Junction Police Department "I think donors recognized that we caught this through an internal audit. We try to make sure every dollar is properly accounted for," Keever said. "The important thing to us is that our checks and balances caught this, and our system worked." Keever said the matter has been reviewed at the national Red Cross level, and no change in policies and procedures was recommended. Drenth returned the vehicle to the Red Cross recently, and it was sold for $18,000. Keever said the board hopes to recover the remaining $22,000 through court-ordered restitution if Drenth is found guilty of the theft. Drenth was not available to comment. A woman who answered the phone at his home hung up after asking about the nature of the call. Grand Junction police Detective Kevin Imbriaco said Drenth has no criminal history. Drenth formerly worked as a fundraiser for the Boy Scouts of America. Keever said Drenth's credentials were checked and the national Red Cross performed a background check before he was hired. "We hired him because of his fundraising abilities," Keever said. The board is searching for another director. This local scandal for the Red Cross comes as the national Red Cross, along with other charitable agencies, has come under fire for not distributing enough of the money collected for 9/11 relief funds. Less than 15 percent of the more than $1 billion collected has been given to victims, according to officials coordinating the work of more than 200 charities. The Red Cross has reported that it has distributed $643 million and assisted 55,000 families affected by the 9/11 tragedy. The Red Cross reports that another $133 million will be spent over the next three to five years to help families with long- term needs, including mental health care and family support services. Keever said even in light of those large numbers, the western Colorado chapter hopes to replace every donation, no matter how small, that was taken from the local fund. He said even though few donors have called to complain, "absolutely every effort will be made to get that money back." -- Outgoing mail is certified virus free Scanned by Norton AntiVirus <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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