Police: Soccer mom steals $75,000 from youth league

Stop me if you've heard this one before. The volunteer treasurer of a youth soccer league helped herself to nearly $75,000 in league funds, according to Montgomery County authorities.

Maryann Grant, a 36-year-old mother of a boy who once played for the Valley Soccer Club, allegedly stole the money over a four-year period, according to police.

"She used the Valley Soccer Club funds as her own personal bank account," Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman told The Mercury.

Grant once withdrew $4,000 from the club's account using an ATM while she and her husband were vacationing near Disney World in Florida, Vetri Ferman said.

The missing money wasn't discovered until Grant gave up her duties as treasurer, according to authorities. Grant, who faces theft and related charges, is free on $5,000 bail pending a preliminary hearing before a district judge.

Read the full story in today's edition of The Mercury.

There's no excuse for what Mrs. Grant allegedly did. Anyone who has children involved in sporting or other activities knows how hard it is to raise money to fund these activities.

But the people who run the organization bear some of the responsibility. You never give one person exclusive control of an organization's finances. Common sense tells you that you always require two signatures on a check or more than one signer to open an account or withdraw money.

And you audit the financial records on a regular basis, something this youth group apparently didn't do in four years.

The temptation to spend other people's money is too great for most people. Hell, look at what our politicians do all the time.

Sadly, we hear about this type of theft all too often.

"This is one of those situations that we see all too frequently where an organization entrusts its finances to one person," Ferman said. "When one person has exclusive control over the financial operation and well-being of an organization, there's a potential for fraud and deception. That is what happened here."

People in charge of finances of nonprofit agencies, volunteer groups, youth sports, Scouting, etc., have to be watched.

You can't have the same person handling a group's finances year after year without someone watching over them.

If they have nothing to hide, they shouldn't have a problem turning over financial records for review on a regular basis.