Washington Asparagus Commission identifies check forgeries of more than $63,000
Washington Asparagus Commission identifies check forgeries of more than $63,000
At its Feb. 3 annual board of directors meeting, Washington Asparagus Commission Executive Director Alan Schreiber told board members that forged checks totaling more than $63,000 had been written on the Eltopia, WA-based commission's account throughout 2005, and the organization's former bookkeeper is under investigation by local and state authorities.
On Feb. 6, Dr. Schreiber told The Produce News that the forgeries were made public at the annual meeting, and at that time, Jennifer (Jenna) Watkins, 26, was being investigated by the commission's accountants. He added that the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, the prosecuting attorney and the Washington state Auditor's Office had joined the investigation, though as of Feb. 7 no arrests had been made.
In addition to money removed from the commission's account, forgeries were also made on the account of Agriculture Development Group, Dr. Schreiber's private enterprise, which is contracted to handle the commission's administration.
"I first learned that money was missing from my company on December 22," Dr. Schreiber said. The loss is in excess of $30,000, he told The Produce News, and that amount was taken from AGD's funds and put into the commission's account.
Commission accountants have determined that forgeries were made on that organization's account throughout 2005, Dr. Schreiber said, but he added that AGD's account had seen such activity earlier. He said Ms. Watkins began working for AGD in August 2003.
He confirmed that some personal possessions of Ms. Watkins had been recovered and that the monetary value of the possessions totaled approximately $25,000. In addition, he said, "Jenna has started making restitution."
The missing money has significant ramifications for AGD, which grows a number of crops in southeastern Washington. Among the items are eggplant and okra, which were going into their third year of production on a total of 29 acres. "We're not going to be able to do everything we have been doing," Dr. Schreiber said, explaining that the forgeries had zeroed out AGD's line of credit to grow those crops. "It's very difficult for us," he said. "We will not hire all the seasonal people we would have hired. We will keep the year-round staff of seven, but our seasonal workers have been cut."
He noted that Christy Hilmes has replaced Ms. Watkins at the commission.
