Former treasurer being sued by Edmonton community league cites software glitches for missing money | CBC News
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The former treasurer of the Inglewood community league denies allegations that he stole more than a quarter of a million dollars.
In court documents, Chad Ohman said accounting software glitches created duplicate expenses and missing data, and all reimbursements were rightfully owed.
It comes after the Inglewood community league in northwest Edmonton filed a lawsuit against Ohman, alleging that he stole $280,000. The league, a volunteer-run, non-profit, said the loss of money put the organization in a “precarious financial position.”
The lawsuit doesn’t describe how the money went missing, but the league outlined several scenarios and alleges Ohman was “unjustly enriched” through what it alleges was deceit and theft.
Ohman’s statement of defence filed March 26 denies the league’s allegations and says he carried out his duties as treasurer “diligently, dutifully, and lawfully” at all times.
“Ohman denies having taken, stolen, or in any manner misappropriated, any sums of money from Inglewood,” it reads, requesting the league provide proof of its claim.
The document said Ohman was one of the volunteers relied upon to make purchases and pay expenses for the league. He would then be reimbursed for those expenses.
“Ohman incurred significant charges on his credit cards for the provision of goods and services for Inglewood including upgrades and repairs to its facility, acquisition of supplies and other expenses,” the statement reads.
In court documents, Chad Ohman, former treasurer of the Inglewood community league in Edmonton, cites software glitches for missing money and claims all reimbursements he received were rightfully owed.
The statement of defence states that when Ohman took over as treasurer the league switched banks and accounting software. The document said the league was using an outdated version of Quickbooks accounting software and switched to Xero.
But the program wasn’t property bringing data over from the bank, and Ohman had to manually enter expense and reimbursement data, the statement of defence said.
When the software issues appeared to be resolved, Xero created duplicate expenses of the ones Ohman had manually entered, the document said.
“The duplications caused by the software issues resulted in some inaccuracies in Inglewood’s accounting.”
Ohman said when he went to correct the duplicates, the software deleted documents such as corresponding invoices and receipts.
His defence said he disclosed the software issues to the league and any amounts paid to him were rightfully owed and approved in accordance with the league’s bylaws.
He is requesting Inglewood dismiss its lawsuit and pay for his court costs.
CBC has not been able to reach Ohman or his lawyer for further comment.
The Inglewood community league says its board is truly shaken, alleging its past treasurer stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, a forensic audit is underway to find out what went wrong.
Edmonton police have confirmed they are investigating. Inglewood has also hired a forensic auditor to get a clearer picture of what happened.
In a statement to CBC, Inglewood’s interim president Joelene Mackey said the league has received Ohman’s statement and its lawyer is currently reviewing it.
“Once he has completed his review, we will be discussing next steps in the legal process to recover the missing funds. Since the investigation is ongoing we will reserve comment.”