$2.7 million embezzled from Arizona National Guard
While members of the Arizona National Guard were in harm’s way, James Eugene Burnes, a retired Army colonel took care of business on the home front. Unfortunately, he put his personal business above the needs of the National Guard. Between May 2003 and August 2011, Burnes embezzled $2.7 million from the Arizona National Guard Family Emergency Fund and the Arizona National Guard Emergency Relief Fund.
Apparently, Burnes had fallen on hard times. Just three years after retiring from the Army on presumably a healthy pension, he began committing fraud in his new role as a resources manager for the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs. From all accounts, he had a gambling habit that needed to be fed. To cover his tracks – as so many perpetrators of fraud do – he created fake financial statements and audit statements.
Here is how he stole the money:
Withdrew $1.9 million in cash during 675 separate visits to the bank (He visited the bank as often as 20 times a month).
Wrote 169 checks totaling more than $400,000
Purchased 32 cashiers checks for more than $332,000
Authorized electronic transfers of $40,000
Management oversight was apparently lacking and numerous red flags were ignored. In fact, an employee within Burnes organization uncovered the fraud and shared the information with a supervisor. The fraud continued for another five months before the supervisor confronted Burnes and initiated a review of bank records which confirmed the fraud.
I am sure that the Arizona National Guard thought it was appropriate to trust “one of their own” – a retired Army Colonel. If only life were that simple… Burnes may have been an exemplary officer while on active duty, but as I have said before, even good people make mistakes. Burnes will found out soon how much he’ll have to pay for his mistake when he is sentenced later this year.
Trust too much, and employees may view it as a sign of weakness. Call me cynical, but if my experience has taught me anything, it is that organizations routinely place far too much trust in their employees. If you ever catch yourself saying that you trust your employees and they would never steal from you, it may already be too late. Trust me; I built my career as a fraud consultant based on employers trusting that their employees will never steal. Guess what? Fraud happens.
Learn more about the case here and here.
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