NY Times article on Sports Embezzlement

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/sports/youth-sports-embezzlement-by-adults.html

For the most part, the above article, soon to be published, is directed at organizations, but is just as relevant down to the club-level and to some degree, the team level. There is very little transparency to know what checks and balances are in place up and down the chain.

The key takeaway is to implement the following:

Coaches and other club members have adapted to new policies mandating invoices and receipts for any reimbursable expenses, regardless of how small the sum. Two board members are also required to extensively review the club’s books monthly.

What an awesome find.  The risk of embezzlement is very high.  And, I can share that North Texas State Soccer has had several financial issues where they have completely dropped the ball.  

1.  Dallas East stopped paying NTSSA in 2013.  NTSSA's response was to cry around and basically do nothing.  Those kids had no insurance and who knows what the president was actually doing with the money.  NTSSA could and should have taken jurisdiction and audited them.  Player records should have been seized and the players distributed to other neighboring associations or new leadership should have been brought in that would be under NTSSA until things were corrected.  

2.  Denton was plagued with money issues and went for 5 years without filing tax returns.  They lost their tax exempt status. That organization was torn apart and some former officers have claimed that the money still has never properly accounted for and that people who were mishandling cash were retained.  

http://www.realscam.com/f14/denton-soccer-association-mired-controversy-north-texas-state-soccer-4422/

But, according to (David) Messersmith, all the state agency can do is offer advice.
“We’re a parent organization only in the aspect that local associations register their players with us,” he said. “Each one is a separate 501(c)(3) organization responsible for its own activity. We don’t have any oversight over how they run their business — they can take our advice or not.”

Messersmith is a CPA and should know the by-laws that give NTSSA the authority to step in, but as usual they looked the other way and pretty much swept that disaster under the rug with all the rest.  

2.2.6 Jurisdiction
This Association shall have jurisdiction over all Member Associations’ administrators, referees, coaches, assistant coaches, managers registered players and teams affiliated with it. Each Member Association shall retain its own autonomy, but will adhere to its Bylaws and Rules and Regulations and will comply with the authority of the (North Texas State Soccer) Association. If the Association is presented sufficient evidence that a Member Association is not adhering to its Bylaws and Rules and Regulations, the Association may form a committee to investigate the allegations and make recommendations to the Executive Committee to correct the infraction(s). If gross misuse of funds, misapplication of Bylaws, or misapplication of rules and regulations is discovered, the Member Association shall be declared not in good standing and given sixty (60) days to correct the situation, or the (North Texas State Soccer) Association may take more immediate action if deemed necessary by the Executive Committee.

3. Garland Soccer is run by NTSSA's Chairman of coaching Education, David Arciniega.  He denies the board any access to records in direct violation of state laws concerning fiduciary duty.  The board of directors runs the association according to Article IV of the by-laws and president Arciniega only has the power to carry out those mandates, but instead he has been allowed by his corrupt board and NTSSA to run GSA as a dictator and it is nothing more now than his personal pocketbook.  Sam Perry the treasurer presents really pretty Quickbook's selections every month, but without the records from Jevin (Sports Management Software that handles all the money,) bank statements, check stubs and more, none of that can be verified and cross checked.  That is one of the reasons I filed suit.  

http://www.realscam.com/f12/jevin-inc-dan-ptak-online-sports-organization-management-software-david-arciniega-garland-soccer-chargebacks-3939/

There must be complete transparency and good oversight.  Garland has zero transparency and NTSSA is totally failing in its mission as the parent organization as they offer no oversight and when asked to step in and help take little or no substantive action.  Local leagues are in crisis and collapsing around them and they refuse to follow their own by-laws and step in. There should be a lot of folks asking very hard questions at the AGM this weekend.

-----Original Message-----
From: David Arciniega [mailto:darciniega@verizon.net]
Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2013 11:04 AM
To: 'David Arciniega'
Cc: Angela Bowen-Hearn (U8 Boys Director); Crystal Martin; Darcy Quintana (Publicity and Awards); Don Starkey (Facilities Director); Heather Dobrott; Juan Ramirez (Major League Director); Kathleen Robinson (Special Events); Kim Verity (Vice President); Piney Burch-Walser (U10 Director); Rachel Beltran (U12 Director); Robert Mayfield (Referee Director); Sam Perry (GSA Treasurer); Terry Walser; 'Paula Tiffin (GSA Office Manager)'; Rosemary Martinez (GSA Registrar)
Subject: Quick notes from NTSSA Semi-AGM
Everyone,

I attended the NTSSA Semi-AGM on Saturday. Here are a few quick notes.

The NTSSA AGM will be held in Lubbock on July 12th thru the 14th.

Rule Change Proposals (both passed but with serious opposition - I voted against in both cases):
1) Academy players are no longer limited to one practice or one game per week.
2) Guest players for tournaments (both Recreational and Competitive) are now set to five maximum.

Every year at either the AGM or Semi-AGM, I hear about local Association Boards imploding for various reasons. This year was no different.
However,
in this case, it was the NTSSA Board. I will share more details at our next board meeting. Please do not discuss this with anyone outside the recipients of this email.

We at Garland Soccer continue to do the right things to keep us from falling into the traps that other associations and NTSSA are experiencing. I want to thank everyone for their dedication and as long as we continue to place the proper checks and balances in place, I have no doubt that we will continue to trend in the positive direction.

Regards,

David A. Arciniega

There are no checks and balances in Garland as my lawsuit clearly illustrates. And, Arciniega snickering over tensions on the NTSSA board seems most prophetic. He has pretty much destroyed Garland and he may topple NTSSA as well.