"A former treasurer who embezzled more than $20,000 from the Naples Orchid Society over two years has been re-sentenced...
Collier County Circuit Judge Frank Baker sentenced Carolyn E. Alden, 58... Between 2002 and 2004 here, she embezzled $20,427 from the orchid society while its treasurer... The large theft nearly bankrupted the nonprofit society, prompting fundraisers. In the end, members banded together to donate money, bringing it back into the black. ... Baker said, he did want the Naples Orchid Society repaid... In March 2006, Alden pleaded no contest to grand theft and Circuit Judge Lawrence Martin withheld an adjudication of guilt. He sentenced her to 15 years of state probation with numerous conditions, including working 1,000 hours in the Community Betterment Program and paying the orchid society $106.38 monthly until full restitution is paid... While a volunteer treasurer, Alden stole money between March 1, 2002, to July 1, 2004, when checks she wrote to members started to bounce and the society's president, Sandy Mikesell, confronted her. "We all trusted her so much because she was a model volunteer and went above and beyond the call of duty," Mikesell said... "We didn't realize what she had done until checks she wrote out to reimburse members bounced. By that time she had drained all of our funds and the bank was going to shut down our account." "She was bringing home thousands of dollars in admissions to our shows," Mikesell added. "The temptation was too great..." After she didn't repay the society, Mikesell alerted the Collier County Sheriff's Office and Alden was arrested on June 28, 2004. Naples Daily News, which published her freelance articles on orchids, no longer accepted her work... she was taking cash, not making deposits or ATM withdrawals, and writing checks to herself... Mikesell said Alden has been paying restitution" URL : http://www.bonitanews.com/news/2007/aug/01/probation_violation_prompts_resentencing_orchid_so/?latest ************** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
