Chehalis police point to forged checks in high school senior class fund

Updated at 11:25 a.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police have asked prosecutors to charge a 43-year-old Chehalis man with multiple counts of forgery and theft in connection with W.F. West High School’s senior class fund.

Detectives have been investigating a complaint from students’ parents the account had less money in it than they thought there ought to be, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

The fund comes from a tradition of parents collectively starting fundraising during their children’s freshman year to pay for graduation-related activities. The school is not involved in the account.

Detective Sgt. Gary Wilson this morning issued a news release stating police discovered the husband of a woman in charge of the money signed 14 checks from the account totaling $8,200. The wife replaced the money back into the account after she learned of the losses, according to Wilson.

An independent audit will be conducted, according to Wilson.

Wilson states that Robert N. Downs Jr., a Chehalis resident, wrote checks from the account between last June and September in amounts ranging from $275 to $950. He wrote them out to himself and signed his wife’s name, WIlson said.

Police are asking the Lewis County Prosecutors Office to consider 14 counts of forgery and 14 counts of theft, according to Wilson.

Tonya Burk, a Chehalis woman whose son is a senior, said parents were surprised a few months ago to learn there was less than $8,000 saved up, when they thought it would be closer to $16,000.

Burk said she conducted an audit which she turned over to police. She said the account wasn’t set up with a requirement of having two signers for withdrawals, which she called a mistake.

Parents began more aggressively fundraising in January, and now have more than $14,000, according to Burk.

Police said their investigation began Jan. 22. The account was closed and a new account opened, according to Wilson.

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For background read “High school senior class fund in Chehalis under scrutiny” from Tuesday March 19, 2013 at 9:45 p.m., here

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7 Responses to “Chehalis police point to forged checks in high school senior class fund”

  1. ohsodumb says:

    at least by saying its gossip we all know thats not the facts…..it is however a fact that money was stolen, in addition to the funds put into the account there is still money not accounted for…….and the answer now is to twist the story and make it sound as if someone else has done something shady……gee, i wonder where that gossip started

  2. IamConfused2 says:

    I “heard” through the grapevine (i.e., gossip) that the reason the account moneys are still listed as missing, is because the auditor (another volunteer for class of 2013) reported the replacement money as an 8,000 “donation” to the class and not a replacement for the missing money. Sounds like some ax grinding going on…

  3. I left says:

    All too often no one opens the bank statements. So six months or more might go by with the bank statements just piling up, unopened. That gets to be any opportunity a thief like the one in this story just doesn’t have the morals to pass up. Like at Raintree, trust but verify.

  4. weezer says:

    the female responsible for the account is married to the man named according to todays article so the statement went to the home they share i would think…..and seems the numbers arent adding up compared to the first article and from my understanding the funds are still missing….seems there are more questions now than answers……

  5. IamConfused2 says:

    So… the original information on the Sirens facebook page was that a ‘woman’ had taken the money, and ‘she’ would be named later this week. But it turns out it is a man who is charged. Then the account is $8,000 short… but the money was replaced… and then an audit happened.

    So… if the audit is done – what is the exact amount “missing”? How much was ‘paid back’? Was it all even-steven and THEN the audit?

    If there were 3 names on the account – did all three get statements? Did any of the other two named on the account ever check the balance?

    Whatta mess!

  6. weezer says:

    last i knew a bank sends a statement every month to the person responsible for the account, so did his wife not notice the balance going down until someone did an audit and turned it in? and from my calculations $8200 is only a portion of the missing funds…..what about the rest, where is it? and slightly confused…..if the funds were replaced….how are they still missing?????

  7. I left says:

    First of all, this is money privately raised so the kids can have a safe and sober graduation party. I worked well in Winlock for our kids when they graduated. So the critics are just plain way off base.

    Second, it is good to hear they know what happened and the money has been replaced. I assume criminal charges are coming although the repayment will be a mitigating factor on conviction.

    You would think after all the fund raising fiascos Lewis County has seen over the last 20 years, people would be learning and would be setting up better controls over the money. Trust but verify. Someone should have been checking on that money at least monthly.