Investigation Reveals Absence of Oversight of Funds Donated by Cooperating Associations

During an ongoing investigation into a National Park Service (NPS) employee’s embezzlement of funds donated by a cooperating association, we determined that Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site (MALU) did not have adequate oversight or controls in place to effectively oversee and manage association funds that were donated to NPS. 

 

We learned that the MALU superintendent gave MALU’s park cooperating association coordinator full responsibility for managing donated funds at the park and did not oversee how he managed and expended them. The absence of oversight allowed the coordinator to embezzle the donated funds without detection. We also found that NPS does not have a policy requiring a regional review or audit of the records of park cooperating association coordinators to ensure that donated funds are accounted for and expended properly.

 

To correct these issues and help prevent future fraud, we offered NPS’ southeast regional director two recommendations: to develop and implement policies and procedures for the use, management, and oversight of donated cooperating association funds; and to train personnel on the new policies and procedures.