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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Friday, March 12, 2010
Police Seek Ex-CCA Worker
By Kathaleen Roberts
Journal Staff Writer
A former Center for Contemporary Arts employee who has since disappeared is being investigated for a possible embezzlement in the five-figure range from the nonprofit early this year.
CCA interim Executive Director John Gordon confirmed the possible theft Thursday, adding that police suspect the former staff member of embezzling from another Santa Fe business, as well as a third in California.
Gordon declined to name the former employee or to give an exact figure for the amount of money involved.
CCA discovered the discrepancy when Santa Fe police alerted the arts center that the former staffer was suspected in another local theft. Gordon declined to name the business involved.
Former CCA Director Lea Rekow, who is not implicated in any of the suspected embezzlement, hired the employee in July 2008, Gordon said. The person worked for CCA part time until the employee "disappeared" in February, he said. "The last time I heard from them (the former employee) by e-mail was in February," he said.
The former staffer said he or she was in Boston dealing with a family crisis and would be back in touch. Gordon has not heard from the person since then. CCA filed a police report the week of Feb. 21.
"I think all that was subterfuge," he said.
CCA officials confirmed that money was missing when their bookkeeper began finding financial discrepancies in their records.
"We started to see things that just didn't look right or smell right," Gordon said. "I think this person has done it before, unfortunately. The police tell us the person has an outstanding warrant in California for a similar event."
A call to the Santa Fe Police Department was not returned.
The 30-year-old center, famed for its arts cinema and as a haven for emerging artists, has endured a rocky history, most recently shuttering for a week over the holidays because of a legacy of debt and the recession.
But local donors helped the center stabilize through contributions; one even assumed $400,000 in construction loan debt from the building of the Muñoz Waxman Gallery.
"We were really doing well and are doing well," Gordon said. "We're sick about this because we're afraid people will decide we're untrustworthy. We're insured for the losses; the money is safe unless the community decides we are untrustworthy."
CCA is in the process of searching for a new, permanent director, he added.
"I feel badly for (the police) because we were really leaning on them to catch" that person, Gordon said. "Their resources are pretty limited. They're dogged. They're going to continue to work it."
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