Salvation Army clerk accused in €850,000 embezzlement

The Salvation Army has said it is going after an employee to retrieve more than €850,000 this person embezzled from this charitable organization.

The organization reported in a press release today that the embezzlement was discovered, when a colleague took over the clerk’s tasks. The employee whose name was not provided was immediately dismissed, Salvation Army says.

An external bureau was asked to look into the case and the investigation was concluded this week.

It showed that the clerk had falsified invoices to look like they had been submitted by care providers. “By combining the fake invoices with false signatures the clerk was able to sluice money to private accounts. He embezzled some 850 thousand euros over a period of six years,” said Cornel Vader, the director of Salvation Army Welfare and Healthcare.

Vader said the organization is “shocked that this happened” and that internal procedures have been sharpened to prevent it in the future. He said its pupils and care givers had not been affected by the embezzlement. “Everybody received the care they were supposed to receive and all invoices of caregivers have been paid. And of course we will be going after the dismissed employee for damages,” Vader said.