PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A 62-year-old woman is accused of falsifying business records in order to embezzle more than $70,000 from a church, according to police and court documents.
Christine Marie Culver, of Canby, faces a 29-count indictment that alleges four counts of aggravated first-degree theft, two counts of first-degree theft, 16 counts of ID theft, three counts of falsifying business records and three counts of felony computer crime.
Culver was the bookkeeper for the Metropolitan Community Church in Northeast Portland’s Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood, according Detective Elizabeth Cruthers, who is assigned to the Portland Police Bureau’s White Collar Crimes Unit.
Culver was the only person to have access to the church’s financial accounts. She is accused of giving herself unauthorized payments to inflate her paychecks.A History of Theft
KOIN 6 News has obtained federal tax records that show in 1984, Culver was terminated from her job with Yamhill County. That same year, in connection to suspected embezzlement, Culver entered a guilty plea to felony theft charges.
In July of 1991, Culver was hired by the City of Molalla. As a clerk, she was making $1,400 per month, according to federal court documents. By 1994, Culver had been promoted to financial director for the city.
“Christine (Culver) may accurately be described as a compulsive shopper,” court records state. “Christine (Culver) often went on shopping sprees…spending as much as $500 to $1,000 per trip.”
In May 1997, Culver pled guilty to charges of aggravated theft, forgery and official misconduct for embezzling $225,000 between 1991 and 1996 from the City of Molalla, records show. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to re-pay the money.
Investigators learned that Culver was able to carry out her embezzlement at the city by writing improper city checks to herself and by taking cash from funds available to her as the financial director.Church Reaction
Rev. Nathan Meckley, the senior pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church called the allegations a “sad chapter” for the church’s history.
“When this was discovered in October of 2015, it was shocking and it was heartbreaking,” Meckley said.
The church is in the process of recovering from the financial hit. Meckley said attendance and participation within the church has remained “consistent.” The church has been “transparent” with its members to keep them updated on the process.
“I’m really grateful for how well our congregation is doing in such a trying circumstance,” Meckley said. ‘We’ve always encouraged people to remain in prayer for Chris.”
For her part, Culver had no comment when questioned by KOIN 6 News following her arraignment.
Meckley said the church was unaware of Culver’s past.
“It is unfortunate that when she was hired 12 years ago, by a previous pastor, unfortunately, there was not a check done at that time.”How your organization can be protected
Detective Cruthers said audits and background checks can only go so far at protecting businesses and non-profits.
“Audits themselves typically are not designed to catch embezzlement and they often don’t catch embezzlements,” Cruthers said.
To safeguard against embezzlement, Cruthers there companies and non-profits to make sure they have several layers of oversight on their financial data.
“It’s fairly easy for an embezzler to hide what it is they are doing especially if nobody actually checks the bank statements,” Cruthers said.
She stressed the importance of having someone other than the accountant responsible for opening the organization’s mail.
“If somebody besides the bookkeeper is getting the mail and opening it, that’s helpful because then whoever is opening the mail would see whether or not the bills are being paid on time, whether or not they’re behind on taxes, all of those kinds of things (to show) that something is amiss,” the detective said.
When it comes to red flags, Cruthers said, in her 11 years of working white collar crime cases, typically the defendants are fueled by an addiction to lottery. She also said the people who are embezzling may be less likely to take time off from work.
“One of the reasons they never go on vacation is because when they leave, then you can go through their desk or somebody else has to open the mail,” Cruthers said.
The impact of embezzling can have a far-reaching effect on the organization and the community.
“When it comes to an embezzlement case, or any fraud case, people are only limited by their imagination,” Cruthers said. “It can be personally devastating, but in addition to that often times it can close an entire organization depending on how much money was stolen.”
The dollar amount taken by a defendant is often irrelevant. What really matters is the impact of that embezzlement on the organization.
“If an organization only has five thousand dollars and the embezzler took four thousand, well, it just wiped them out,” Cruthers said.
She urges organizations both big and small to report any suspected embezzlement to avoid what’s known as “serial embezzlers.”
In some cases, companies won’t report theft cases because they are fearful of negative media attention. Cruthers said not reporting the suspected theft puts the entire community at risk.
“If a nonprofit, or any other organization for that matter, doesn’t report it and the person doesn’t get convicted, then that’s never going to get detected on a background check,” Cruthers said.
According to the bureau, detectives consider embezzlement to be the theft of funds or property entrusted to an employee. In most cases an employee steals money or property from their employer.
If you suspect your business or non-profit is the victim of embezzlement, a police report must be filed in order for an eventual prosecution.
In Multnomah County, people can call the police non-emergency number (503) 823-3333 to report the theft.
Police urge people to have spreadsheets, copies of checks (front and back) and other financial documents ready for the officer who is taking the report.
Be sure to request the officer come to your business location to take the report. Do not report embezzlements over the phone.
Culver appeared in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Thursday. She told the judge she had hired a private attorney. A not guilty plea was entered on Culver’s behalf.
A trial date has not been set.