Coquitlam RCMP is now investigating after nearly a quarter-million dollars vanished from the bank account of Coquitlam’s youth baseball league, according to the organization.
Coquitlam Little League, whose All Star team won last year’s Canadian championship, explained the crisis in a message to families on Friday.
President Sandon Fraser says the league discovered the money was missing on Aug. 3, after looking into reports that parents hadn’t been getting promised refunds for the 2020 spring season.
Volunteers had begun preparing cheques to mail out to some 700 families back in May.
“We began what we believed to be an informal investigation into what had transpired. At that time, we discovered a serious issue: that the funds that should have been in Coquitlam Little League’s account were not there.”
Sandon said that financials presented to the league’s board on June 9 showed $229,971 in financial assets.
An investigation has now determined there is just $3,000 left in the account.
Coquitlam Little League also has outstanding unpaid invoices to some of its suppliers, he said.
RCMP say they first learned about the allegations on Aug. 8 and now the file has been transferred to fraud specialists at the Coquitlam RCMP’s Economic Crime Unit.
“The board of directors was shocked by these findings,” said Sandon.
“The investigation into the missing funds is ongoing and we have committed to having an independent/third party accounting firm perform an analysis of the league’s finances.”
Sandon said as a result of the incident, it is no longer able to offer refunds to families and is working on the next steps.
It will also hold a virtual conference for families on Saturday, Aug. 22, at 10 a.m.
In the meantime, Sandon asked that parents not engage in speculation or gossip until all the facts are at hand.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Coquitlam RCMP non-emergency number at 604-945-1550 and ask for the Economic Crime Unit (file 2020-21019).