From the Chattanooga Times Free Press: A Bradley Central High School band booster has been charged in a Tennessee Comptroller's Office probe into
From the Chattanooga Times Free Press: A Bradley Central High School band booster has been charged in a Tennessee Comptroller’s Office probe into misappropriated club funds totaling more than $2,000.
Former band booster club concession manager Crystal Lynn is charged with theft over $1,000 on an indictment issued Feb. 15 by the Bradley County grand jury, according to a Comptroller’s Office news release issued yesterday. Theft over $1,000 is a felony that carries a sentence of one to two years for a first-time offender, according to state law.
School district officials said the investigation will lead to record-keeping improvements across the system. According to the investigative report, the booster club is a separately formed nonprofit organization made up of and governed by parents and other volunteers.
The school system released a statement yesterday that read in part…
“Bradley County Schools reported the incident and has cooperated with the comptroller’s investigation into the finances of the Bradley Central High School Band Booster Club. During the course of this investigation, it became clear that booster club officials were not following best financial practices, particularly with regard to purchasing procedures. These deficiencies have since been addressed and corrected. Going forward, the finance department in the central office will periodically audit booster club accounts, and lessons learned from this matter will be applied across the county.”
According to the report, Comptroller’s Office investigators determined Lynn misappropriated at least $2,069 from the booster club by making personal purchases between September 2021 and December 2021.
The band booster club’s primary fundraiser is selling concessions during football games, and as the concession manager, Lynn was responsible for purchasing concession items before each game, investigators said in the report.
In addition to the concessions, Lynn also included personal items, including gift cards and clothing, with her purchases with club funds, the comptroller said, adding that she used a booster club check to make these purchases.
Investigators also said in the report that Lynn repaid the booster club $2,069.59 on Dec. 13, 2021, after she was confronted with the misappropriation.
In addition to Lynn’s misappropriation, investigators also said the booster club had other questionable and unsupported purchases totaling $904, according to the report. These purchases were made by other members of the booster club, but they were not adequately documented with itemized receipts or invoices, investigators said. Investigators could not determine if these purchases were made for the exclusive benefit of the club.
