A month after board president Gary Losh alerted the South Jeffco Sports Association to a $100,000 embezzling scheme, members voted him out.
“I’m tired,” said the 47-year-old in a telephone interview Wednesday. “I’m devastated by this, but I take responsibility for it. While I was out painting the barn, the house caught fire.”
The nonprofit 2,800-member association works with nearly 4,000 athletes ages 6 to 14. There are 700 to 900 students per sport, including baseball, basketball and football.
Exactly a month ago, Losh spotted a forged signature on a payroll check where the treasurer’s signature had been misspelled. A secretary helped him find more bogus checks, all of which had been deposited.
Digging deeper, he found automatic withdrawals from the association’s accounts for about $67,000 that had been sent electronically into an employee’s personal American Express account. The employee has not been publicly identified.
The association estimates that about $100,000 was stolen.
On Sept. 17, Losh fired the employee and called the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which said Wednesday that its investigation would take several more weeks. He held a meeting that night to inform the board.
But Tuesday night, parents and board members decided it was time for a change. At the annual elections, Losh was voted out of office 32-22. He had been president since early 2005. He had never been paid and kept his day job as student advocate within Denver Public Schools.
Other board members and the new president, Jeff Wahl, couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
Gale McGee, a coach and umpire for the Jeffco Midget Football Association, said he never had any problems with the association or with Losh. “They’re cheap, they pay the minimum, but they’re OK,” he said.
American Express has shown some willingness to reimburse the $67,000. An insurance policy against employee dishonesty may cover another $25,000.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
