Eliot House Grads Will Stand Trial For Charity Thefts

Two Harvard graduates will stand trial this year on charges of embezzling $132,000 while heading "An Evening with Champions," the Eliot House ice skating show that benefits a children's cancer charity.

A grand jury handed down indictments on July 20 after a year-long district attorney investigation into the whereabouts of $160,000 discovered missing from the Evening With Champions accounts last summer.

Charles K. Lee '93, who co-chaired the 1992 charity ice skating benefit, pleaded innocent to 66 counts of larceny during his arraignment on August 11. If convicted on all counts--which include 58 charges of larceny over $250--Lee would face up to 302 years in prison.

Lee is accused of pilfering nearly $120,000 and subsequently using it for personal expenses such as credit card payments and bills at clothing stores including Saks Fifth Avenue, Barney's New York. The Andover Shop and Eddie Bauer.

David G. Sword '93, who served as treasurer for the 1991 and 1992 Evening With Champions shows, pleaded innocent to one count of larceny over $250. Sword is accused of stealing more than $12,000.

Lee and Sword will most likely stand trial between February and May, according to prosecuting attorney Martin F. Murphy.

An Evening With Champions is an annual event featuring world-class and Olympic ice skaters.

The event was established 25 years ago to aid the Jimmy Fund, which raises money for children's cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The $132,000 allegedly stolen by Lee and Sword would have covered, with money to spare, the entire cost of a bone marrow transplant, according to a spokesperson at Dana-Farber.

Paper Trail

The Middlesex County District Attorney's office launched an investigation of the case when Lee's successors discovered last summer that the money was missing.

Lee and the other organizers of the 1992 charity benefit had promised the Jimmy Fund a donation of approximately $110,000, according to a statement written by Assistant District Attorney Mary Beth D. Cassidy.

To make the pledge official, the organizers held a ceremony at Eliot House, where a commemorative check for more than $100,000 was given to representatives of the Jimmy Fund. No real money changed hands then, but the co-chairs of the 1993 show were expected to deliver about $160,000 when they took over last summer.

The district attorney's office followed a "paper trail" to gather evidence that Lee and Sword took the money, according to Cassidy.

Each count against Lee represents a check he allegedly wrote for himself from the Eliot House fund.

The grand jury indicted Lee for a total of 65 checks between March 13, 1992 and June 9, 1993. One other count covers money Lee allegedly stole "at some point between February 12 and November 25, 1992," indictment records state.

According to the records, Lee withdrew large amounts of money regularly over 15 months.

Indictment records indicate that Lee never went more than 26 days without writing himself another check for more than $250. He had a high of 10 checks in June, 1992 and a low of one check in December of 1992 and February and April of 1994.

A review of Lee's personal bank records revealed that Lee withdrew all the money he took from the Eliot House accounts by July 1993, Cassidy wrote.

"The money that Lee spent was the Jimmy Fund's money, and we intend to prove that," Murphy said.

Sword will be tried on just one count of grand Larceny.

The charges stem from checks Sword allegedly wrote in the period beginning "on or about October 2, 1991 and continuing to on or about June 4, 1994," according to indictment records.

Cassidy wrote that she found 27 checks totalling $11,263.18 that were either written out to Sword or used for related personal expenses.

Cassidy also wrote that she traced another $1.175 of the missing money to cash backs taken by Sword when transferring funds to and from the Jimmy Fund checking and money market accounts.

Murphy, however, may not even be forced to present the evidence against Sword.

Cassidy wrote that Sword has "voluntarily provided to authorities a statement wherein he admitted the theft of approximately $10-$12,000."

Asked about the statement after his client's arraignment, Sword's attorney, Robert D. Canty Sr. '57 said: "I'll have to see what [the district attorney's office] has. I don't think that he has given any signed statement."

Canty did not return several phone calls last week.

Murphy said that "90 percent of defendants change their [not guilty] pleas to guilty before they go to trial." He declined to speculate on whether Sword or Lee would do so.

Defense

If the cases do ultimately go to trial, defense lawyers may try any number of strategies.

The attorneys for Lee and Sword aren't talking about specific tactics they may employ.

But an exclusive Crimson interview with Lee, as well as his attorney's statements at the arraignments, may provide some clues about how he will defend himself.

In the interview, which was conducted last summer, Lee said he had decided not to make a donation to the fund. He said the organization had to use the money to pay off $50,000 in long standing debts and other expenses.

"This year, I decided to forego the donation," Lee said at the time. "When I decided to forego the donation, I didn't think about them. Instead, I was thinking about getting the show going."

Still, the co-chair presented Jimmy Fund director Mike Andrews with a dummy check for more than $100,000. The real money never arrived, though.

In last summer's interview, Lee apologized for not notifying the Jimmy Fund about his decision.

"I didn't communicate clearly to them," he said. "That's my fault."

Some of the unpaid debts included money owed WGBH-TV, which had supplied a producer, Susie Dangel, for the show, Lee said.

Lee also said at the time that the $160,000 figure number sounded "a little high." Lee said he informed the 1993 co-chairs of his decision to forego the payments that spring.

Asked if his client would stick to his original story, Lee attorney James W. Lawson said: "I'd rather not comment."

But during his unsuccessful argument for no bail on August 11, Lawson tried to paint Lee as a model citizen. He said Lee participated in many service--oriented activities at Harvard, such as the Big Brother program and working in Lamont Library and Memorial Church.

Lawson gave the court two letters which he said affirmed his client's good character. Lee's mother and church pastor wrote the letters.

In interviews after the arraignment, Lawson also focused on his client's character.

"At issue in this case, of course, is the Commonwealth's allegation that he did certain things in a certain position throughout a certain period of time," Lawson said.

"But that small period of time, that small window of time, is not the whole of this young man's life. He has worked very hard, he has achieved in some noteworthy ways, he's a decent person.

"This is a life worth watching and a life worth saving.

A review of Lee's personal bank records revealed that Lee withdrew all the money he took from the Eliot House accounts by July 1993, Cassidy wrote.

"The money that Lee spent was the Jimmy Fund's money, and we intend to prove that," Murphy said.

Sword will be tried on just one count of grand Larceny.

The charges stem from checks Sword allegedly wrote in the period beginning "on or about October 2, 1991 and continuing to on or about June 4, 1994," according to indictment records.

Cassidy wrote that she found 27 checks totalling $11,263.18 that were either written out to Sword or used for related personal expenses.

Cassidy also wrote that she traced another $1.175 of the missing money to cash backs taken by Sword when transferring funds to and from the Jimmy Fund checking and money market accounts.

Murphy, however, may not even be forced to present the evidence against Sword.

Cassidy wrote that Sword has "voluntarily provided to authorities a statement wherein he admitted the theft of approximately $10-$12,000."

Asked about the statement after his client's arraignment, Sword's attorney, Robert D. Canty Sr. '57 said: "I'll have to see what [the district attorney's office] has. I don't think that he has given any signed statement."

Canty did not return several phone calls last week.

Murphy said that "90 percent of defendants change their [not guilty] pleas to guilty before they go to trial." He declined to speculate on whether Sword or Lee would do so.

Defense

If the cases do ultimately go to trial, defense lawyers may try any number of strategies.

The attorneys for Lee and Sword aren't talking about specific tactics they may employ.

But an exclusive Crimson interview with Lee, as well as his attorney's statements at the arraignments, may provide some clues about how he will defend himself.

In the interview, which was conducted last summer, Lee said he had decided not to make a donation to the fund. He said the organization had to use the money to pay off $50,000 in long standing debts and other expenses.

"This year, I decided to forego the donation," Lee said at the time. "When I decided to forego the donation, I didn't think about them. Instead, I was thinking about getting the show going."

Still, the co-chair presented Jimmy Fund director Mike Andrews with a dummy check for more than $100,000. The real money never arrived, though.

In last summer's interview, Lee apologized for not notifying the Jimmy Fund about his decision.

"I didn't communicate clearly to them," he said. "That's my fault."

Some of the unpaid debts included money owed WGBH-TV, which had supplied a producer, Susie Dangel, for the show, Lee said.

Lee also said at the time that the $160,000 figure number sounded "a little high." Lee said he informed the 1993 co-chairs of his decision to forego the payments that spring.

Asked if his client would stick to his original story, Lee attorney James W. Lawson said: "I'd rather not comment."

But during his unsuccessful argument for no bail on August 11, Lawson tried to paint Lee as a model citizen. He said Lee participated in many service--oriented activities at Harvard, such as the Big Brother program and working in Lamont Library and Memorial Church.

Lawson gave the court two letters which he said affirmed his client's good character. Lee's mother and church pastor wrote the letters.

In interviews after the arraignment, Lawson also focused on his client's character.

"At issue in this case, of course, is the Commonwealth's allegation that he did certain things in a certain position throughout a certain period of time," Lawson said.

"But that small period of time, that small window of time, is not the whole of this young man's life. He has worked very hard, he has achieved in some noteworthy ways, he's a decent person.

"This is a life worth watching and a life worth saving.