A former United Way of Chatham-Kent (UWoCK) employee is in that organization’s sights after someone allegedly misappropriated funds from the non-profit.
Maureen Geddes, interim CEO for UWoCK, said a civil action against the ex-staffer is underway, and Chatham-Kent police have an investigation open.
“With the ongoing investigation, we’re having no additional comment,” Geddes said.
She stressed this had “nothing whatsoever” to do with former CEO Barb Palace, who left the organization recently.
“We thank our former CEO, Barb Palace, for her support in identifying the concern and assisting with the internal investigation, which resulted in the case being brought to the attention of local police,” UWoCK officials said in a media release.
Geddes refused to name the former employee, however, the lawsuit, for more than $290,000, names Veronica Whittal as the former employee, according to previously published reports.
Geddes said feedback from the community in the wake of this has been mostly positive for UWoCK.
“We’ve been speaking to donors and stakeholders. There has been a lot of support,” she said. “We have a very kind community.”
Geddes said UWoCK personnel are investigating what happened and working to prevent it from possibly recurring.
“We are doing absolutely everything to study and learn from this and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said. “We are reviewing all processes and procedures. We are taking this very seriously. We are very committed to ensuring we can move forward.”
According to UWoCK officials, the civil action follows “a period of due diligence and thorough investigation of the matter, guided by a reputable audit firm. The organization has already strengthened security protocols to prevent the opportunity for any future incidents.”
