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Subscribe to RSSA former finance director at the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York on Tuesday admitted stealing more than $300,000 from the organization.
Yaasmin Hooey, 35, of New York used the cash for cruises, cosmetic laser procedures and a $13,000 diamond ring. She also spent $18,000 in bars and restaurants, according to the District Attorney's Office.
She pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny.
'Personal expenses'
Hooey admitted forging the signature of the organization's then-chief executive and writing 65 checks to herself from a payroll account. Nine wire transfers also moved money from two of the nonprofit's bank accounts to Hooey's own.
In addition, she used some of the money for "personal expenses" including groceries, a gym membership, clothing and commuter train tickets.
"It was an enormous violation of the trust the Scouts places in her as their director of finance, as well as the trust of the many girls that the organization serves," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement.
Hooey admitted stealing $311,568 between September 2008 and December 2010.
She will be sentenced in the New York Supreme Court on March 6.
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This just keeps getting worse and worse.. what the heck is wrong with people??? Stealing off kids.. can it get any lower? Yep, it already has.
The sad thing is, she will probably get 1-2 years even though she committed over 65 separate "robberies", yet a poor person who holds up a liquor store and gets $300 receives 20 years to life. I have never understood why we are so SOFT on white collar criminals, especially in cases like this where it was definitely NOT a one time thing. This woman systematically stole over a long period of time. She deserves as much, if not more, time than the liquor store bandit.
Bruce, if she is in prison then she can't be working and paying back the money she took. She should be sentenced to a treatment program (she obviously has a problem), and be required to pay restitution and do community service (possibly working for the Girl Scouts for free, if they'd have her).
Her picture tells a thousand words! Typical and tatted up! Hide the money in the books!!!!
Sounds like an aspiring politician to me...
Debi_E. It doesn't quite work that way. When she is required to make restitution, after her living expenses are factored in, she MAYBE will be paying 10 dollars a MONTH>. She will never pay it back, she is a criminal so treat her as one.
Debi-
Sentenced to a treatment program? Spare me the insanity. She is a complete and total TOOL. You can't fix evil. You can't. There is no problem in her mind. She stole the money to treat herself. She did it becasue she is EVIL. Plain and simple. I agree with Bruce. She needs the same sentence as anyone else would get.
Treatment program. I get so sick of hearing that.
I am not condoning her actions but as someone who closely worked with the girl scouts for many years I can see how their corporate corruption must have rubbed off on her. The girl scouts hide behind the facade of little girls and call themselves a non profit organization, however you would be astonished at the corporate salaries and they way they squeeze their vendors for every dime. Make no mistake they are all about corporate greed at its finest. When your boss is dirty you end up with dirty employees.
Yea RDWTNBLUE- Because all people with tatoo's are criminal? What an ignorant thing to say!
I bet she's a democrat liberal? It's a sickness in Louisiana with these demos stealing and
embezzling funds and giving jobs to unqualified family members! Rep. Jefferson's entire
family also have been found guilty and yet he remains out of jail! Why isn't Corzine being
charged or investigated? where's that story? Power is Evil. Obombo and his liberals are
abusing their power with all these regulations and payoffs to big unions the corruption
never stops! NOBOMBO 2012! oh what does this have to do with this story? nothing!
She should work for Wells Fargo'
or B of A
Packinp40 - I did not say that all people with tattoos are criminal. I also did not say that all people that receive disability payments and have handicapped parking permits are laughing while they sap from the system. You keep your eyes closed all you want, mine are wide open! Have a good day!
There's no way this scumbag will be able to pay what she owes off. She owes a whole mortgage, and after factoring in her having to pay for her basic living expenses, plus whatever lower wage she might earn at whatever job is willing to hire her after finding out how much she stole, it could take more than the rest of her lifetime. So put her away for ten years minimum, factoring in good behavior, and value her labor in prison as being worth about $30,000 a year (even though they get paid pocket change for their labor), then make her pay back the other $11,000, which is a more likely sum (and if she paid it back at a rate of $100 a month, it would still take almost ten years to pay back).
she just wanted s'more
I think a fitting punishment would be put her in a stockade and "Stone" her to death with Girl Scout Cookies.
You did imply though!
Sick. This is truly sick. When I was growing up, Scouts and Guides were "the" groups to join. For parents it was a relief to know that your kids were taking part in an upstanding, safe organization with wonderful adults for mentors. For kids it was great knowing that we were safe and would have a great time as well as learn a lot about the world around us, and even be able to put Scouts or Guides on our college applications as references and proof that we'd had these much wider life experiences. Now, being a Scout or a Guide (if indeed parents even allow their kids to join any more) is becoming a life sentence of embarrassment. Is there nothing left in this world that is clean, honest and true - no mentors that we can trust our kids with? My grandmother Girl Guide leader must surely be turning in her grave right now.
I'm with Comments from the Cookie Jar. There is WAY too much money going to the national offices, and very little that trickles down to the local councils & troops. It took them 2 YEARS to notice they were $311,000 short!! If it weren't for the dedicated volunteers guiding the girls, they wouldn't have those fat salaries to start with.
That's a lot of cookies to be sold to make that kind on money and time by the girls and volunteers who sold them...and have her who sold none just take there money and run. You are a low life troll & should do Jail time as well as pay EVERY cent back...The scouts need more over sight , 2 yrs to find out , one month in my house, balance the check book !!!!!!!
One of the worst things is that this is not something that rarely happens. I worked for a Girl Scout Council for many years, and although the majority of the people involved with Girl Scouts are honest and there for the girls - this type of crime happens in councils across the nation every year. Most of the time the councils do everything possible to keep it out of the news because it tarnishes the way the public views the organization and the support they get. Girl Scouts operates based on volunteers, the funds generated through donations, product sales (fundraisers) and grants. It's horrible that people criminally take the funds, but it happens every day. Their actions hurt the girls not only in the amount they take from them, but also in the diminished ability for Councils to generate new funding and the public trust that is destroyed. This happened with the business manager at the Council I worked for. I heard about it after I left the Council, but it had been in near financial disaster for many years and it was because of HER. There was nothing in the news about it and she NEVER went to jail!!!!!! Equally alarming is that there are countless leaders and parents who skip with "cookie money" every year. Again, no criminal charges and no publicity!!!! Until the national organization starts to address this with local councils, nothing will change and the entire organization will be at risk for crime.
Yup. Seems to be your tendency, Ervin Cohen. You're suspended for a week for violating #4 of the Code of Honor. Write your own article if you're connecting news stories to politics, or just go comment in the politics section.
2 deleted, ifosback beginning a big presidential politics derail:
Useless. You're suspended for a day for violating #4 of the Code of Honor. There's a ton of places to discuss Romney/politics/etc. Keep it there - or write your own article.
Sad but true. My ex sister-in-law stole my niece's cookie money. That poor child worked to the BONE and managed to sell $800 in cookies, and her mom kept the money. Not only did she NOT get the prize she was going after, she was removed from the Girl Scouts. The mom went on with no punishment. Makes me sick to even think about it.
I found out what the prize was and went out and got it for her. I felt so bad for her - thank goodness she is too young to realize that her mom is a liar and a conniving thief.
Now I know why those cookies cost so much!
Do a little research and you will find that there are people in the Girl Scouts making 7 figure salaries. Hard to not come to the conclusion that they are exploiting the girls and their cookie sales to line their own pockets. (Contrast this with little league where it is 100% volunteer).
my daughter is a girl scout, in my small town a handful of moms volunteer. But big corporate mommas always need more of our money, girl scouts like anything else that makes so much money is subject to greed. I say throw the book at her!!
the cookies cost so much? in NC they are $4 a box. only slightly higher then what you'd pay for most major named brand cookies in a big box store. Boy scout popcorn is a slight min of $7 a box for the cheapest thing, pop it yourself buttered popcorn that you can get from any $1 store. Really?!?! you want to complain that cookies cost so much? the cookies here had been $3.50 up untill 2 years ago, which was the same price they were when I first started scouting upteen years ago. Now I am a leader of my daughters troop and am proud to hear people say that they are pleased to hear that the cookies only have gone up .50 in at least 20 years. compared to everything else, that's not a bad inflation rate.
Stealong from the Girl Scouts and the people who so generously support them by buying overpriced cookies has been going on for years. Not many years ago, I know of an all-expensees paid trip to Hawaii as a thank-you to volunteers. I havent bought a cookie from the organization since!
kdbear -- The cookies may be $4 a box but the boxes have been getting smaller for years and the price has been creeping up at the same time. They used to be $2.50 a box, then it was $3 and now they're $4 a box and the box of cookies is 25 - 30% lighter.
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-01-28/us/girl.scout.cookies_1_dosidos-girl-scout-cookie-trefoils?_s=PM:US
and
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/01/24/the-girl-scouts-earn-a-cheapskate-patch-fewer-cookies-in-the-bo/
So yes, they do cost more for less in the box.
And at the same time they've changed the formulas to be "healthier", which means they no longer taste like girl scout cookies. C'mon "health police", we only buy em ONCE a year!
Google Girlscouts 990, and click on the link for their 990 tax return. It is public information and pages 43 & 45 show the top 12 highest paid employees. One of them got a bonus of $94K on top of $454K of other reportable earnings.
Combined they make over $3.4 million, with other compensation of $.5 million all while working 45 hours a week.
Meanwhile the girls/troops get $.25/box. (6% of the cost of the cookies) Looks like a bunch of hands in the cookie jar.
@ J Hoedeman--I have been a Girl Scout leader for 10 years. The most I have received as a "thank you" gift is a pen and keychain. A trip to Hawaii is definitely not the norm. I am hoping there is a lot more to the story. Maybe it was a trip to thank long time volunteers, say 20+ years?
@ Bill C--Yes the price of cookies has gone up over the years. Yes the package size has decreased. This has also happened with cereal, peanut butter, granola bars, liquid soap, and countless other products. It happens. I don't like it either, but it is a fact of life. In our area, similar to Kdbear, our price has only gone up 50 cents in the ten years I have been a leader. It's not jumping every year by leaps and bounds, nor has the cookie box size decreased every year.
Girl Scouts is so much more than cookies. We sell cookies to raise money and teach the girls about goal setting, finances (ironic given the story, I know), and helping others. Next time you see a girl selling cookies ask her or the adult with her what they plan to do with the money. Depending on the age of the girl you may or may not get a perfect answer. Each troop should (and almost all do) use their cookie profit for fun and learning activities and also for community service projects. There are so many positive stories of girl scouts helping their community and our country through service projects. Ask and you might be pleasantly surprised by what you hear happens with the money we raise.
This one person is not a reflection on the Girl Scout organization as a whole. She would have done this no matter where she worked.
I can't speak for every council, however, in our council we receive between 65 cents to 73 cents per box.
how in the name of sweet jesus would they let one lone woman have charge of a checking account and be able to write checks to herself with no explaination,,,,,,,,there should have been 2 required signatures on every check and all of them approved as to what they are for. i blame the people in charge of this set-up almost as much as her......and what is this second degree charge??????????????????? it should be first degree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what would first degree consist of? sounds like # one degree to me............................
Joyce - the article stated she forged her bosses signature. They most likely had a dual-signature program in place. More imprtantly, who was auditing their books??? Apparently no one.
I was a Cub Scout leader for years (Den Leader and Cub Master). Cub Scouts is not much different. The Disctrict takes a huge percentage of fundraising money that they've done nothing to earn, all the while providing near zero support for the local Pack doing all of the work and community service.
Someone is. They caught her.
So, combined, these 12 high level people, who run a very large business, earn less than a lot of CEO's of a regular, for profit, business that is a similar size. I don't think that's so bad! The simple fact is that if a nonprofit wants to operate effectively, they need to get the best talent, and that means competing with for profits for it. As CEO's of for profits get paid ever increasing (and extortionate) amounts, nonprofits will (to a lesser degree) follow.
Rob80 -
The salaries of course the salaries are less than a "For Profit" Company? You can't compare the two. Don't let your hatred for "For Profit" (Real) CEO's cloud your judgement. "Not for Profits" benefit from "Goodwill" of the citizens, "For profits" benefit thru free enterprise and consumers. I guess either way you look at it all 12 of these people are in the 1%. I guess next time someone tries to sell me a box of cookies, in which $.25 goes to the troops I'll just give the troop leader/volunteer a $100 cash so i know the little ones benefit from it.
Wonder what would happen if enough people started a "benefit the girls" campaign, and instead of buying a $3.50 box of cookies, we instead all gave $1 cash to be used by the local troop. My guess is the GSA bigshots would figure out how to get their share of it.... They operate like the federal government: Send it ALL to us and then we will redistribute it as we see fit. If someone running the Girls Scouts of America considers themselves "executive talent" and expect to be compensated on par with businesses that are in it for profit, then they should probably leave and go into business, because their heart isn't where it ought to be anyway.
Way too many so-called charities today have simply become easy ways for a few people to make money off the backs of those who think they are contributing to a good work. The story just broke in my hometown of the police chief who also headed up a charity to "provide police dogs to communities". When the veil was stripped away, about 10% of every dollar given actually went to provide dogs (and there were no concrete records that any had been purchased) and he had both his wife and daughter on the payroll to the tune of $72,000 a year! Yeah, it was all about putting police dogs in communities!
OK, where was the GAAP oversight? Where were the auditors? Where was the CEO? Where was the accountability? Really! Business at its worst.
That was my first thought--how could this go on for almost 2 years? Did no review the bank statement? The Accounts Payable? The check register? Payroll? I work at a non-profit infinitely smaller than the Girl Scouts. I do all the accounting, but the treasurer reviews everything and we have an annual audit. As I am the only employee with access to the accounts, it only makes sense! A few years before I started working here, the council was not reviewing the books, check book, etc. and lost money to one of the employees who should not even been using the accounting system. Another local tiny non-profit (barely getting by with mostly volunteers) lost at least $20,000 through non-review. Sounds like a lot of incompetence in the Girl Scouts board and managing staff.
After the sovereign debt-crises collapse, we will look back on this fondly as a magical time in history when someone had that much money to steal.
The feminists will be proud that she didn't sexually harass anyone, unlike Herman Cain.
They will tout this as evidence for why we need more women Executives.
Good grief! Where did this come from? Somebody hurt your feelings?
??????????????????????????????
"OK, thanks. I've got you down for 4 boxes of Thin Mints and 2 boxes of Samoas. That'll be $21 dollars, please - $1.38 for the cookies and $19.62 administrative/handling charge."
Can't call them Samoas anymore - it's not PC
The name "Thin Mints" discriminates against the obese, making them feel bad about their rotundity.
Pathetic.
I agree, Rob, totally pathetic. How low can you go?
I knew those cookies were priced too high per box now I know why, guess I'll go back to eating Twinkies !
When Kimmy from North Korea hear's about this he may launch a missle!
no twinkies , hostess is filing for bankruptcy protection.. thanks you union bakers
She won't need much money for those "personal expenses" where she is going. The problem is, it is going to cost us way more than $300,000 for her trial and incarceration. She should be made to keep her job and work for minimum wage. After work, she should have to sell girl scout cookies until the money is repaid.
I think that is a great idea!!!
If i was her, i'd opt for jail time. At minimum wage, she'll 'll never paid it off.
Oops, I posted before reading your post, Cap'n Jim! I agree with you wholeheartedly.
I would feel sorry for her if she was using the money to keep her home out of foreclosure or make car repairs or buy necessities (though that still wouldn't make it right).
Caught with her hand in the cookie jar........literally!
You took my line: I was going to say, That's a lot of cookies, for sure.
...
Sign of the times: blowing that much loot on personal frills.
They should make her sell cookies to pay back every cent she stole. Let her experience how difficult it is.
And have her wear a sign around her neck while selling them to let people know what she did. Of course that might be a bad idea because people may not buy them from her.
Lisa I agree with you on that! That is a great idea but then she would be able to sue the same company that she stole from and get more!!! We are so worried about being PC that having her wear the sign would result in the lawsuit and the SICKEST part...... she would win!!
We are getting so soft in our world. God forbid "WE" humiliate her!!
Especially if you concider thatThe Girl Scouts only get about $.50---$.60/box of cookies sold. That is somehwere in the neighborhood of 532,000 to 632,000 boxes of cookies sold.
Sometimes the only diffenence between an honest person and a dishonest one is oportunity. Pity that tarring and feathers has gone out of vogue. That along with paying double the money back would set things right.
Freedom you said it! $4 for a box of cookies and the troop only gets $.60. The prizes they work for are junky trinkets. The council that is supposed to help leaders and girls is useless.
If only Ms. Hooey was using that money to....let's say, get cancer treatment meds for one of her kids or helping homeless people. But nope...me, me, me. "I'm so beautiful, look at my ring and my cosmetically enhanced features...me, me, me...love me world..." Man I'm cynical in the morning.
Actually you make a very good point. If one looks around they will generally find they are existing in a "me first" world.All that high life and expensive living is not going to mean crap for the time she is serving in prison. I hope to her it was worth it. Goes back to something I heard some time ago - "You can definitely do it; you just can't do it indefinitely". She can never repay scouting for what she did, but then again it probably does not matter to her; It did not matter in the beginning.
It's a hard story to start the morning with.
Don't worry Debi-E, treatment will surely fix her
so your saying its ok to steal from the Girl Scouts, as long as its going to the homeless or some noble cause. I don't like the "me first" society either, but playing Robin Hood is just as wrong as stealing for yourself!
I was a GS Leader in the past. My daughter is a leader now. I am turned off by the way volunteers [us] have to PAY to volunteer for a job that requires a lot of personal time and energy.
The Girl Scouts have become a big business now. I tried to get an answer to why volunteers are charged a fee to DONATE their time. It's crazy. Of course I got no decent answer from them. Not a happy camper here.
End of comment..Have a good day all....
She is the new definition of scum.
She was caught with her hand in the cookie jar, but let's hope the prosecution's case doesn't crumble and they manage to take a bite out of crime. I'm not going to sugar coat it - send her to the big Toll House and let the chips fall where they may. And if she misbehaves during her first sentence, then don't hesitate to give her somoa. I hope she gets sandwiched between some pretty nasty monsters in prison to teach her a lesson.
Mike N-366459 - after puns like that, you may have to tag along.
Doh!!!
it's very sad to think that the only way to keep kids minds and body's in this great country is these beg for money groups. most declare non-profit and pay their employees or presidents way above normal.even the salvation army begs and people give and claim donations of wayyy beyond it's real value! all in the name of tax wright offs! we need 1 tax for all! this insanity needs to end! who has the best tax accountants? big corporations pay little to none! that bag of clothes you dumped off and claimed it was several hundred dollars in value! they cut up the cotton and resold it by the pound!i guess church is under the same play game, with gold or silver cups and large buildings with million dollar looks. what a sad country we have become! while most kids hang out on the streets of your dense subran city, looking for some fun recreation. we are what we eat!
I hope she gets double stuffed!!!
I agree, let her sell cookies to pay the money back. In a lot of states the scouts are cutting back programs and selling facilities due to budget problems and this B.... has the nerve to steal over 300k. Just proves where this country is going. Would you still buy cookies now knowing where the money might end up.
Mark - Yes, I will still buy cookies and I will still let my girls participate in girl scouts. I will not let one morally bankrupt person's actions take away from what is a great program.
new-age role model, most likely married to a banker or stock broker
or a politician !!!!
This kind of crime deserves the maximum punishment. I mean really, stealing from kids?
Look for 1-2 years max. A school secretary near my home stole $11,000 from the school and was sentenced to one year of in home detention.
lets see , she'll come to court, say i;m sorry i done wrong, please i have kids at home ,i can't go to jail who'll take care my kid ! and the judge, i hope gives her the max plus 10 years, and then put her picture on every box of cookies explaining what type of thief she is. this bull sh t has to stop
hahaha love the idea of her face on the cookie boxes as what a "BAD" example is!!! lol.....VERY FUNNY PB-2023310
Theft is rampant in the Girl Scouts. I pointed out theft and could prove it several years ago, called the Cleveland Council on more than One occasion. Totally ignored us. Needless to say, the money the kids raised never went to anything the kids did.. No wonder they didn't do anything, they're keeping it themselves. I'm forwarding this article to the Cleveland council so they can ignore this also..
with a name like that she must be a crooked muslim, time for sharia law and we know what that means, no jail, stone her., muslims dont want to play by the rules, well lets use their own law against them., they wanted sharia law in Oklahoma so lets use it against their own. eye for an eye, no more play nicey.
Thats a lot of Hooey. It doesn't sound Muslim to me. She probably already got stoned with all that cash.
how does this happen? i mean are there not auditors who YEARLY check the books? is there not a board of directors who are assigned the responsibility of oversite? unreal.... and this type of notoriety will impact donations for years to come.
She spent 18,000 between Sept 2008 and Dec 2010 in bars and restaurants. Either she daily spent 22.76 (rounded & w/ a generous figuring of the # of days) at those places, or ..... entertaining the auditors maybe?
No wonder cookies are $4 abox!
When the top people at GSA need to make over a million dollars a year, you can't give em away!
I don't see where the top people are making over a million. I see where the CEO makes just over $600,000 and is the top paid employee.
They should take every thing this woman owns and sell it to help pay back every peeny that she stole. After she gets out of prison they should make her pay back what ever she still owes at the rate of at least $1000.00 per month until it is all paid back!!!!!!!! Plain and simple!!!!!
Stealing that much from little girls' cookie money to spend on face lifts! What more do you need to do to get charged with FIRST DEGREE grand larceny?
Papa....one million
PaPa, She got ripped off by the plastic surgeon too (karma)...google her pic. She just isn't that bright...
I don't see any picture of her.
there's not one in the article...type in, or copy paste her name in the google search engine. there you'll find her pic.
Everyone complains about the price of girl scout cookies. Have you ever been paid $20 for a box of popcorn?! That's what the boy scouts charge for their sales adventure! They set up in front of WalMart, Target, etc., expecting people to buy this when I can go inside & get the same box (amount) of popcorn for about $6!
My husband says "it's for a good cause". Um....Where does the $14 go? At least a comparable box of cookies in the store cost $3. Stop throwing stones at the girl scouts!
Good cause? The Boy Scouts? I don't think so! They promote hate---no gays, no one except Christians----real great values to teach.
Agreed, I find the Boy Scouts to be a vile organization
GS & BS - A pedofile's Supermarket !
Never leave your child in someone else's hands !