More Than $100,000 From Down Syndrome Organization Gone By 'Undocumented Spending'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- One hundred thousand dollars for children with Down syndrome.
There are growing concerns the money didn't go to the kids, but instead was used during a two-year spending spree. Now Indiana State Police have launched an investigation.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli has the story.
A long-time member of the Down Syndrome Association of northwest Indiana, or DSA, is getting her first look at property turned over to the group by its former president and executive director.
"A faucet? We didn't need a faucet at the DSA," said the member.
But she and other members of the organization, who don't want to be identified, suspect that the DSA's former leadership team did see the need to buy the faucet and the majority of the contents of a storage locker to furnish their 3,000 square-foot home.
"This credenza would be lovely in someones home, I'm sure," said the organization member. "Never in the DSA space. Where do you think they were used in somebody's office?"
And it wasn't just furniture.
"Southwest Airlines plane tickets. Trips to Michigan. It added up quickly. It hovers around $100,000," said a member.
So the board contacted police and a lawyer who on a spreadsheet soon identified more than $112,000 of what they suspect is undocumented spending.
Things came to a head on October 17, when families confronted the president and then program director in a heated meeting in the basement of a building in Highland.
No cameras were allowed inside.
But 24 hours later, the president and his wife, the then program director, handed in their resignations.
CBS 2 is naming the program director or her husband since they have not been charged. But CBS 2 did contact with the former president at his home on Monday.
"I have no comment. You can reach out to my attorney," he said.
That as parents come to grips with the possibility that a couple with a child with Down syndrome may have taken from the very organization meant to serve as many 300 children and adults.
"It's sad because we just want so much for our kids. Our kids are worth it and they deserve everything that everybody else has in the world," lamented the member.
