Membership special announcement

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volleyman
IHMSA President
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Membership special announcement

Post by volleyman »

Over the past two years the board of IHMSA has been dealing with a very difficult situation. I'll break down the timeline for the membership. Shortly after I was elected President in July of 2015 I informed past president Nancy LaCroix and Cindy Smith that we needed to switch over the Wells Fargo accounts. We needed to remove Nancy from the accounts and add myself. Wells Fargo required that everyone who is on the account and everyone who is going to be on the account to be at a local branch of a Well Fargo. Cindy had many excuses as why she was unable to make to a branch. This drug into December of 2015 and by that point Ray Utter had accepted the position of Secretary Treasurer so we had to get him on the account and take off Cindy Smith who was the acting Sect/Tres. We gave her the date (January 15, 2016) that we were going to do the transfers and told her she had to get to a branch on that day. The transfer of people on the account went smoothly. While at the bank, I noticed the balances of both the savings and the checking accounts were very small. After checking with Nancy that there were no other accounts with IHMSA funds, I went on line that evening and downloaded the statements for the past 2 years. I was shocked to find the IHMSA accounts had been drained of funds from the time that Cindy Smith took over the volunteer position of headquarters. There were countless unauthorized withdrawals of cash and the use of the debit card for personal expenses such as shopping, dining, travel, airfare, pet hospital, car repair and many others. I called Ray Utter that evening and told him we had a big problem. We both proceeded to do an informal audit of the Wells Fargo accounts and we came to the realization that we had over $75 thousand dollars in unauthorized charges. At this point Cindy Smith admitted to taking the funds from the accounts to Nancy, Ray, and myself. She promised to repay the funds, but never followed through. The next day Ray and myself contacted Wells Fargo and had Cindy removed from the accounts and her debit card deactivated. Ray went to Cheyenne Wyoming to recover the IHMSA property that Cindy had in her possession. Cindy was then removed from the headquarters position. The board then made the decision to permanently remove Cindy Smith from the organization under article 13 of the bylaws. It was decided by the board to impeach and permanently remove Dave Smith from the positions of Vice President, Region 8 director and membership in the organization as he was most likely aware of the unauthorized charges as he benefited from them. At this point Tina Cullison volunteered to look into our legal options. It was decided by the board to proceed with legal action against her in the state of Wyoming. Tina wrote a civil demand letter that resulted in Cindy Smith's written admission of guilt and sending a check with offer for installment repayment over many years. The board rejected that offer and demanded full payment immediately. We received no response, so charges were filed in 2016 and the case has slowly made it's way thru the legal system. During this time the board was advised not to discuss this case with the general membership as this could affect the case against the defendant. A warrant for her arrest was issued and on February 12, 2018, Cindy Smith turned herself in to the Cheyenne authorities where she was booked on a single count of felony theft. Her mug shot was published in the Wyoming Eagle. It is now public record and we are able to inform the membership of this situation.


That is where the case is now. We are committed to recovering the funds that were stolen from us. We will keep the membership informed as this case comes to a conclusion.
The total draining of IHMSA funds put us in a tough position in the beginning of 2016. But several board members made no interest loans to IHMSA so we could print the newsletters, membership cards and rule books. Board members also covered the postage costs for the membership packets and funded the trophies for the World Championships. Over the next 6 months the funds in the accounts steadily grew, the loans were repaid, and we are now stable financially. In fact the past two years the IHMSA funds have steadily grown.
We have taken several steps so that this cannot happen again. We have multiple people now monitoring the Wells Fargo accounts. I would like to thank the many people who helped us get though this tough time. First, the board of IHMSA who had to make some tough decisions regarding people we considered trustworthy and friends. Tina Cullison, who while not being a lawyer, was able to give the board valuable guidance in the legal world. She spent countless hours putting together materials and filing the police report in Wyoming. She was and is still in contact with the authorities in Wyoming. Bruce Barret, who stepped up and took on the Vice President position. Russel Plakke, who took over the Region 8 directorship and has been a great help. Ray Utter, who soon after taking the position of Secretary treasurer had this fall into his lap. I'd also like to thank the membership of IHMSA for seeing us thru this difficult time and for not asking too many questions that we were under orders not to answer. I believe that IHMSA has come out of this stronger and we can get back to the fun of knocking down silhouettes.


Steve Martens
President IHMSA
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Re: Membership special announcement

Post by 19 Turkeys »

As a few of the board members know, I became aware of this situation when the financial statements were finally published a couple of years ago. As someone with 24 years of reading financial statements, it was blatantly obvious that there was a termite in the woodpile. I commend the current leadership for making this public at this time. I understand the reason for keeping it under wraps, but am glad that we are now able to bring this to the attention of the membership at large. Thank you for making a full disclosure.

Yours,

Steve W.
Past Match Director, JCSA - Grants Pass, OR
Past JCSA Board Member
IHMSA Life Member
Past Editor IHMSA News
Past Manager of IHMSA HQ West
NRA Patron

Due to recent cutbacks the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.
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35isit
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Re: Membership special announcement

Post by 35isit »

Without trying to say too much. I personally was near a situation similar to this. There were hard decisions to be made. I'm sure the people involved were friends. We hate to see friends in trouble. I applaud the way it was handled and not airing dirty laundry for the world to see. No innuendo or false statements. It seems to be handled.

I think all the membership can ask. We should be given the facts that are available. When they are available. We may never get all "our" money back.
Greg
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Re: Membership special announcement

Post by i26963 »

I agree that this was the proper way to handle it. But you will never get back all of the money. She will end up being told by the judge to pay X amount of dollars for so long. We had a situation here in our small town where A woman that work for the local sheriffs department embezzled over $300,000. She was made to pay $500 per month and served one year of house arrest.
Evidently crime pays
Melvin
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Re: Membership special announcement

Post by 260 Striker »

Thanks for the update. A sad situation and I'm sure it was difficult to remain silent until the proper time to release this information. It sounds like the appropriate actions were taken and steps taken to ensure our funds are secure. Thanks to all who floated loans and assisted IHMSA during this difficult time.
Lynn Shultz
IHMSA #15692 since 1980
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35isit
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Re: Membership special announcement

Post by 35isit »

As 260striker said, I also want to thank all those that floated loans. I didn't have the extra money then or now to loan. But would be happy to donate a few dollars if that is needed in the future.
Greg
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braud357
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Re: Membership special announcement

Post by braud357 »

Comment deleted
Last edited by braud357 on Mon Mar 19, 2018 4:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
IHMSA # 13794 Joined May, 1980
Match Director Ascension Silhouette Gonzales, LA 1991-2009
Louisiana IHMSA Deputy State Director 1983 - 1985
Louisiana IHMSA State Director 1995 - 2007, 2014 -
IHMSA Region 2 Director 2007 - 2009
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i26963
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Re: Membership special announcement

Post by i26963 »

braud357 wrote:Steve - thank you for letting us know about this. I have been an IHMSA member since May, 1980, and have enjoyed the sport and the friendships that I have made immensely. I know that due to legal issues that this had to be handled with care, and I have to admit that, bluntly - this pisses me off ! To have someone betray the association and all of its members for financial gain is unforgivable ! I appreciate that she has been arrested and charged - and I sincerely hope that justice is served. I also sadly admit that we will probably never recoup our losses, but I hope that if she is convicted, she receives the maximum penalty allowed. I also want to thank those individuals who fronted funds to IHMSA to keep it afloat - these are the caliber of individuals that comprise the majority of IHMSA membership. I suppose that it is impossible to keep a snake out of the henhouse ! A sad reminder to us all - we must remain vigilant !!!
Philip
Read my above post about the woman in my hometown.
I can almost assure you that she will serve no jail time, and only be required to pay a paltry monthly amount.
The judge in the case I mentioned even asked the woman how much she could pay a month! After stealing over $300,000, she is required to pay $500/month! In 50+ years she will have it paid off! Ridiculous.
And if it is Cindy’s first offense, she will get off with a light sentence. And if her income is not much, the monthly amount will be almost insignificant.
It is a shame that someone would take advantage of our organization, but with the light sentences handed down in these cases, people are willing to take a chance.
Like the case here, in 3 years she took $300,000, which comes to $100,000 per year. So now she has a $500 per month payment. Big deal, huh?
Hope I am wrong, but I don’t think I am
Melvin
Co-Match Director LRGC, Lincolnton, GA
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braud357
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Re: Membership special announcement

Post by braud357 »

Comment deleted
Last edited by braud357 on Mon Mar 19, 2018 4:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
IHMSA # 13794 Joined May, 1980
Match Director Ascension Silhouette Gonzales, LA 1991-2009
Louisiana IHMSA Deputy State Director 1983 - 1985
Louisiana IHMSA State Director 1995 - 2007, 2014 -
IHMSA Region 2 Director 2007 - 2009
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Proclaim
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Re: Membership special announcement

Post by Proclaim »

This kind of stuff really disgusts me!

I appreciate those that stepped up to help keep the organization afloat. I also appreciate the way this was handled once discovered.

My questions are: Where was the over-sight by the Board at the time this was going on? Are they going to be held accountable too? I am a Board member for two non-profit organizations and also a bookkeeper for a local country club. There absolutely should have been over-sight that would have caught this and stopped it before that much money disappeared! Sickening how pathetic people can be, including those that directly stole the money and those that should have prevented it!
Holdrege Silhouette Gun Club Member
IHMSA Website Manager
IHMSA Life Member
NRA Life Member
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