A former secretary of the Saladin Shriners in Grand Rapids, Michigan has just been charged with embezzling $1.39 million from the Saladin Temple's Children's Trust Fund. According to police reports, it seems Richard Ivan Williams has been siphoning off money from the Saladin Shriners ever since 2019 to buy real estate, line his own pockets, and (somewhat incredibly) to donate $275,000 to two of his college fraternities.
Because that was apparently so much more important than supporting the Shriners Children's' Hospitals or the transportation of disabled kids to facilities where they can be treated. He may be a crook, but at least he looked generous to his frat bros, I guess.
Oh. And he was an attorney at one time, so maybe he just wasn't aware of the laws. Or the definition of "trust."
Oh. And he was an attorney at one time, so maybe he just wasn't aware of the laws. Or the definition of "trust."
According to a video report on the WOOD-TV 8 website, Williams' bail was set at a mere $10,000, which means he would only have to personally post $1,000, despite the obvious evidence that he's a potential flight risk with access to enough cash to skip town. If convicted of all six counts, he faces perhaps 20 years behind bars.
As for making restitution? As Emily Dickinson wrote, "Hope is a thing with feathers."
No comments:
Post a Comment
ATTENTION!
SIGN YOUR NAME OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFY YOURSELF IN YOUR COMMENT POSTS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A GOOGLE ACCOUNT.
Your comments will not appear immediately because I am forced to laboriously screen every post. I'm constantly bombarded with spam. Depending on the comments being made, anonymous postings on Masonic topics may be regarded with the same status as cowans and eavesdroppers, as far as I am concerned. If you post with an unknown or anonymous account, do not automatically expect to see your comment appear.