Former HOA treasurer accused of embezzling $200,000
KFOR Channel 4
By Sarah Stewart
17 October 2016
An audit has uncovered dozens of checks cashed since 2008 written by
the treasurer, signed by the treasurer, endorsed by the treasurer and
deposited into his personal account.
OKLAHOMA - Residents in the Summit Place neighborhood near N.W. 122nd and Rockwell pay $286 a year for their homeowner’s dues.
That money is supposed to go towards things like maintaining their pool
and volleyball court, the greenbelts in the neighborhood and other
infrastructure.
But, some board members said that money was going to line the pockets of the former treasurer.
“The reason nothing was maintained and nothing’s been done is because
we’re supporting his vacations and whatever he’s spending the money
on,” said Dennis Stamper.
Stamper is a current board member for the Summit Place homeowner’s association.
he could tell something was wrong
He said, when he joined the board a couple years ago, he could tell something was wrong.
But, he said many of the longtime board members did not want anything reported.
we’re not going to be involved in a cover up
“We just told them we don’t need your permission to file a police
report and we’re not going to be involved in a cover up,” Stamper said.
An audit has uncovered dozens of checks cashed since 2008 written by
the treasurer, signed by the treasurer, endorsed by the treasurer and
deposited into his personal account.
One check was for $17,800. Board members said he also cleaned out a CD account that had more than $44,000 in it.
And, the last year he filed taxes for the association was in 2006. He marked it as the organization’s final return.
“It’s almost unanimous other than a few board members that are voting against us that he go to jail,” Stamper said.
Stamper and two other board members took it upon themselves to write
letters and send them to approximately 550 homeowners in Summit Place
letting them know what’s going on.
Judy Beckett is grateful they did.
The checks and balances evidently just fell by the wayside
“The checks and balances evidently just fell by the wayside,” Beckett
said. “I was shocked at the $200,000 amount, which they’re not even
sure that’s the limit.”
A police report was filed in July, but so far no charges have been
filed. Oklahoma City police tell us they are still investigating.
The HOA has a board meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Francis Tuttle.
They are expecting a large turnout.
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Former OKC neighborhood association treasurer accused of embezzling $200,000
News 9
By Tiffany Liou
31 May 2017
OKLAHOMA CITY - An arrest warrant was issued this week for 65-year-old Ralph Mann.
Police said the district attorney accepted the charges for the
embezzlement of more than $200,000 from Summit Place Homeowners
Association.
Derek Colvin, the new Vice President of the HOA, said he was part of
the committee that investigated the embezzlement. Colvin said it took
months of digging. Police said the crimes span at least nine years.
Mann, was treasurer of the HOA for 14 years, but documents only trace
back to 2007. Colvin said Mann quit when an audit was demanded.
Throughout the investigation, Colvin said they discovered Mann used HOA
money to buy a car, fund his trips to Hawaii and Colorado, buy a $1,400
printer, and even a laptop. There were multiple pages of checks and
wires written to himself. Often times, the suspect would cover it up as
reimbursement, according to Colvin.
News 9's Tiffany Liou was shown the copies of many checks. Some of the checks written to Mann were over $16,000.
Colvin is grateful Mann is finally being held accountable for allegedly stealing so much from his neighbors.
Since the investigation, the Summit Place Homeowners Association has
voted on five new board members. They are hoping to bring back
transparency and trust in the neighborhood.
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Former HOA treasurer facing 8 counts of felony embezzlement
KFOR
By Sarah Stewart
31 May 2017
Ralph Mann
As summer break begins at the Summit Place neighborhood pool, residents hope long neglected repairs can finally happen.
"It allows us to have money to fix all this infrastructure that's went
without any repair for, you know, 10 years or more," said current board
member Dennis Stamper.
Stamper said his neighborhood at N.W. 122nd and Rockwell had slowly
seen their funds drain because the former treasurer was stealing it.
"He wrote $160,000 of documented checks to himself and deposited them in his personal account," Stamper said.
That former treasurer, Ralph Mann, is now facing 8 felony counts of embezzlement.
He had the job for 14 years.
Board members showed us checks that were written by Mann to Mann and endorsed by Mann—one for more than $17,000.
Other board members started catching on and filed the police report last July.
"We want to see jail time. The entire community wants to see jail time," Stamper said.
Mann still lives in the neighborhood...waving at people
Stamper said they don't necessarily expect to see the money ever paid back, even though Mann still lives in the neighborhood.
"Waving at people as he drives around, which is really making people
angry. Had a lot of complaints about that, but there's nothing we can
do," Stamper said.
The board has taken steps, though, to ensure this doesn't happen again, requiring two signatures on all association checks.
"Two signatures would have stopped this from ever happening," Stamper
said. "Chances are somebody's watching somebody else, and there's no,
doesn't leave the opportunity."
Stamper said they also plan to hire out some of their accounting work.
And, they hope Mann is held accountable for his actions.
"You shouldn't be able to steal that much money over that many years and be that arrogant towards everybody," Stamper said.
As of late Wednesday afternoon, Mann had not been booked into the Oklahoma County jail.
An arrest warrant has been issued for him with a $100,000 bond.
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