PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY NAVARRO COUNCIL OF THE ARTS - THEFT and MISAPPROPRIATIONS OF FUNDS BY FORMER DIRECTOR

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On September 17, 2025 a former employee plead guilty to theft from the Navarro Council of the Arts and the Palace Theater.

In 2023 board members were alerted to possible financial irregularities by an accountant.

After a review of financial records and comparison with internal reporting documents submitted by the employee, the board reported what they believed to be misappropriation to the Corsicana Police Department. After obtaining several years of bank statements and internal records, Detective Dunagan uncovered misappropriation of more than $300,000 from the two nonprofit organizations.

The district attorney sought assistance from the Texas Attorney General Financial Crimes Division and subpoenas were issued for what ultimately amounted to thousands of pages of bank records from both the organization accounts and the employee’s personal accounts. After months of investigation, the assigned forensic accountant reported that “conservatively” the employee had embezzled $1,298,000 over several years.

Records showed that the employee charged hundreds of purchases from Door Dash, Lululemon, Nordstrom, airline tickets, hotels, restaurants and a myriad of other merchants to the two organizations. The employee was sentenced to ten years in prison and ordered to pay $450,000 in restitution. A cashiers check for $100,000 was delivered to the District Attorney’s office in court.

This employee had no prior criminal history, so this was, in a sense, a “first offense.” But embezzling cases like this are not single offenses.

This case was hundreds or thousands of thefts over a period of years totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars taken from nonprofit organizations that serve the community with donated funds. These thefts just weren’t discovered for several years because the employee hid the illegal activity and lied to the boards about their true financial position.

Selfish acts like this make it harder for all charitable organizations to raise funds because prospective donors wonder whether their donation is actually serving the purpose of the organization or paying for the luxury splurges of an employee.

Fortunately, thanks to the hard work of many board members and the generosity of many benefactors, these organizations will be able to continue to serve the community.