FORMER LOCAL D106 (Mason City, Iowa) Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Jon Witham was sentenced to 21 months in prison Dec. 8, 2009, for embezzling $52,037.19 from the lodge over a four-year period. He was also ordered to make full restitution.
The Department of Labor investigated Witham after the International became suspicious of his activities, and indicted him in July 2009. He pleaded guilty in September.
Keep your local out of the [bad] headlines
NO LOCAL LODGE needs to lose funds to theft, mistakes, or poor financial management. The International Constitution gives local lodge trustees the responsibility of performing an audit every three months. Properly conducted, the trustees’ quarterly audit will uncover mishandling of funds and identify weaknesses in the financial control system that might lead to future losses.
Training in how to conduct an effective audit is available from the International. The next scheduled auditing workshop training will be given at the Industrial Sector Conference August 17-19 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For more information on this workshop or how your lodge trustees can get training in conducting an audit, contact the Communication and Education Department at 913-371-2640.
