Q&A

Forgery

I recently found out that there is a teach at the school where I am PTO President who is forging the name of a person who no longer lives in this state. The forging is being done on our PTO bank account checks, I just discovered this on Saturday. Spoke to the VP and she was already aware of it. Now she wants to quit so she doesn't get into trouble. Also the people whose names are on the account are NOT on the board!!!! What should I do about this? And what if the school already knows about??? How much trouble am I as the President going to get into?? Someone please help me fast!!!!
- jmakfa

I'm not 100% clear on the situation, but you would not likely be in any legal trouble as long as you personally have not misused the account or forged any checks. The issue of people whose names are on the account not being on the board is somewhat common, since PTO officers change over so often. I'd start by going to the bank to find out what you need to do to change over the names on the account. I also highly recommend a thorough review of your books to make sure all the money was spent properly and can be accounted for. As for the signing someone else's name on the checks, that obviously needs to stop right away. If your review shows that all of the money was spent properly and in support of the group, that's a completely different situation then someone forging checks for their own personal benefit.
- Craig
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