The American Marketing Association Northeast Ohio Board of Directors has important news to share with our members of the Northeast Ohio chapter and our marketing community.
The American Marketing Association Northeast Ohio (AMA NEO) Board of Directors discovered suspicious spending patterns that led to more in-depth review of our finances. Our records in March 2020 indicated that a little more than $10,000 was unaccounted for. After learning this, we conducted an internal financial investigation. We suspected that one of our trusted Board Members had been embezzling money from our chapter through numerous unauthorized transactions outside of normal chapter operating practices.
We are greatly disappointed to learn of this news.
Upon learning of the loss of funds through the suspected theft, our nonprofit organization immediately removed this individual from the board and instituted additional financial policies and procedures to prevent similar actions in the future. The AMA NEO also instantly contacted local police to press charges against this individual and that case is still under active investigation. We are also in the process of recouping our lost monies. Our new policies will help prevent future occurrences and include more detailed review of finances at each Board meeting and restricting access to financial accounts, in addition to other policies.
It is especially important to us that we maintain the trust put in us by our members, our national affiliations, and our partners throughout our community. As we continue to navigate this situation, we will continue to fulfill our mission to “provide thought-provoking and educational content and engaging networking opportunities to enrich the marketing community in Northeast Ohio.”