Financial Scandal Hits Currier

Yet another financial scandal embroiled a student organization this year.

Following the infamous plundering of An Evening With Champions and the less publicized alleged expropriations at the Yearbook and the Krokodilos, the Currier House Committee last fall discovered more than $12,000 missing from its account.

In March, the committee's former treasure, Natalie J. Szekeres '97, was charged with embezzling $7,550 from the organization.

Harvard University Police Detective Dennis M. Maloney said evidence showed checks actually went into the personal accounts of Szekeres.

Or leave in Landover, Md. for a year, Szekeres ignored letters and phone calls from the police over a three month period. She also failed to appear at her March arraignment in Middesex County District Court, provoking police to issue a warrant for her arrest.

"will talk when I'm ready. There will be a time. But this is not it," she told a Crimson reporter at her house.

On March 11, the junior's family returned $12,000 to Harvard, and University Attorney Anne Taylor said Szekeres would not be prosecuted.

As the situation developed, the student at the center of the most recent financial controversy kept a low profile.

Friends and high school teachers expressed shock at the possibility that she may have stolen the money, citing her responsibility and institutional loyalty.

The daughter of a physician and an international businessperson in Holmdel, N.J.--a suburban town of 10,000 that is nationally recognized for its high school--Szekeres did not appear to have any problems or be in need of money, according to friends.

But she may not have been as carefree as she seemed.

One acquaintance said the biology concentrator had told her that she was taking the year off because of poor grades.

And in February, her mother said she and her daughter had not been on speaking terms for some time and that she did not even know why Szekeres was taking the year off.

If charges had been pressed, Szekeres would have faced a maximum punishment of five years in state prison and a $25,000 fine, according to District Attorney Martin F. Murphy.

Szekeres' legal troubles now appear to be over. According to Maloney, the police do not intend to arrest Szekeres if she returns to Cambridge, although the case will remain open until she and her attorney complete the requisite paperwork in court.

University officials would not comment on whether they plan to take disciplinary action against Szekeres.

Recent Financial Scandals

Several scandals have recently ensnared student groups in the past few years, prompting administrators and students to ask if Harvard students can be entrusted with their group's money.

In 1993, the student organizers of Eliot House's charity gala, An Evening With Champions, embezzled money from its funds.

Co-chair Charles K. Lee '93 confessed he stole $120,000 and co-chair David G. Sword '93 admitted to taking $7,000. Lee served one year in prison.

At the time, Lee said the organization kept its receipts in milk cartons and that its accounting books were probably lost. And since An Evening With Champions was not incorporated in Masachussetts as a non-profit corporation, it did not have to file an annual tax return or keep records consistently.

In 1994, the general manager of the Krokodiloes resigned after he was accused of swindling the group out of $3,000 and spending the money on personal items such as clothing from the Gap.

And last year the president and business manager of the Yearbook were forced to step down because of allegations that they embezzled thousands of dollars and mismanaged the organization, according to a source at the Yearbook.

Little Oversight

Administrators and students have said in the past the University does not adequately monitor organizations' finances, making it easy for students to embezzle.

Although the Currier House Committee was actually missing approximately $15,000, Szekeres was accused of taking only half of that, according to Maloney.

The committee's records--often hand-written, photocopied or simply check-marked to signify that an amount had been paid--would not hold up as evidence in court, officials said.

For the past six years, student groups have had to submit financial reports to the University annually--but not official bank statements.

Many students, including Joshua A. Feltman '95, former president of Perspective, described the annual reports as "kind of a joke."

House committee chairs previously interviewed by The Crimson said because they were not audited by the University or house masters, they in effect had free reign over spending.

Currier House Committee members, at a meeting after the incident, suggested posting weekly or monthly financial reports in the house to keep residents abreast of the accounts.

In response to the scandals, in 1995 Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 began offering optional seminars for financial leaders of student groups in order to educate them on financial management.

Organizations were required to send a representative if they wanted to be eligible for College funds.

Yet Susan S. Kim '96, former president of the Korean Students Association, said last week that although she agrees with the idea, she had not heard of the seminars until now.

She said she has not noticed any changes in Harvard's supervision of the finances of student organizations, although she advocates an annual audit of every student group.

"Those kind of incidents happen all the time," she said. "[The College] should become more strict about regulating the finances of all organizations. That way everyone becomes more careful."

Since the incident in the Currier House Committee, the group monitors itself more rigorously, requiring the treasurer to submit a monthly record of expenditures and income to the secretary and president, both of whom must sign checks over $250.

In addition, Harvard began annual audits of the organization.

But Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 said an interview earlier this year that the train of mismanagement will not result in a loss of student authority in extracurricular organizations.

"We're not planning to change our policy if we can possibly avoid it," he said. "I do think the autonomy of the student organizations can be maintained."