Man Charged with Embezzling Nearly $700,000 from Scholarship Fund
Bloomfield Hills, MI -The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Craig Alvin Maass, who allegedly stole $697,000 from the Oakland Hills Caddie Scholarship Trust. Maass is a 60-year-old resident from Bloomfield Hills and had been President of the trust at the time of the embezzlement.
While preparing the IRS 990 Form required for non-profit entities in July 2019, fiduciaries of the Oakland Hills Caddie Scholarship Trust noticed irregularities in the account and suspected misconduct by Maass. After discovering these abnormalities in the accounting, Oakland Hills requested a forensic audit be conducted where it was discovered $697,000 had been embezzled and converted over for personal use by Maass. Board members of the trust contacted the Sheriff’s Office at this time to investigate the suspected embezzlement.
Detectives from the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Unit conducted interviews and obtained search warrants for Maass’ financial records. At the conclusion of the investigation, the case was presented to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and warrants were issued for Maass’ arrest. Maass was arrested and arraigned on January 31st in front of Magistrate Julie Nelson-Klein in 48th District Court on six counts of Embezzlement by a Fiduciary over $100,000.
Maass was given a $700,000 cash surety bond with no 10%. His next court date will be for a Preliminary Examination on February 10, 2020, in front of the Honorable Judge Kimberly Small in 48th District Court. Embezzlement by a Fiduciary over $100,000 is a 20-year felony and/or a fine of three times the value of the amount embezzled.
The Oakland Hills Caddie Scholarship Trust has awarded over $1 million dollars in the last 40 years to young caddies to help with their education. The fund raises money by donations from members of the Oakland Hills Country Club.
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