Sedalia softball league treasurer accused of stealing thousands

Police arrested the treasurer of a youth softball league for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the group.

The Pettis County prosecutor’s office charged Daisy Hoover, 37, of Sedalia for felony theft and two counts of fraudulent use of a debit card Wednesday after she allegedly stole $34,757.68 from the Sedalia Girls Softball League. Hoover has served as the league’s treasurer since September 2013, and was fired “the day the board discovered her activities,” according to a league representative.

Sedalia police began investigating when league president Adam Cormican contacted them in June. Hoover had access to league checks and a debit card to pay the umpires and scorekeepers, and to buy sporting goods and other other items. Police said unauthorized transactions from ATMs and purchases with the debit card totaled around $26,000. Cormican also pointed out more than a dozen Walmart purchases with the league debit card as “unauthorized,” costing them more than $2,000.

Police also compared Hoover’s personal bank records with league finances. Hoover paid personal bills with Charter Communications and a Capital One credit card account using the league’s debit card.

“There were several times where an ATM withdrawal was made on the Softball League account and the same cash amount was deposited into Daisy’s personal account,” Sedalia police wrote in a probable cause statement.

Hoover denied writing some of the larger checks for cash, but cried when asked when asked if it was close to “she probably took a little and thought she would pay it back, but it just got out of hand.”

Erik Carrozza is a CPA in the Philadelphia area who started the Center for Fraud Prevention, a nonprofit dedicated to tracking embezzlement from youth sports league. He tells ABC 17 News it has become a “nationwide problem,” citing more than 250 cases since he started the group in 2014, with league officers taking $17 million.

“They involve youth sports organizations that have entrusted a treasurer or president that works exclusively with financial control,” Carrozza said. “And those organizations have very little oversight or checks and balances.”

Carrozza said many embezzlement cases can be stopped with basic oversight in an industry that’s become flush with money. The National Center for Charitable Statistics estimates around 14,000 youth sports organizations work with $9 billion, according to a New York Times article earlier this month. Carrozza said these leagues often operate with volunteer leaders, with people in charge of the league’s thousands of dollars, and who often are unopposed for the position.

A Sedalia league representative said in this case, Hoover was the only person “seeing the bank statements” and had access to the mail to intercept any statements before other league officials saw them. The softball league has since changed the lock on its PO Box, and designated someone else besides the treasurer to receive the bank statements. Carrozza said league executives across the country should take money management more seriously.

“The executive board, the president of the organization should set a tone that this organization is going to have a higher level of financial governance and financial transparency,” Carrozza said.