Embezzling Funds ?

I would like to know if anyone can tell me how much proof is needed and what kind of agency Home Owners would contact if they feel the Property Manager if embezzling funds?
Our pm is not forth coming with information. Document requests are ignored. Outrageous fees are charged for copies of documents. She has a habit of saying one thing at one and denying saying it if it is brought up at a board meeting.

Susan,

Thank you for responding.
We were being charged a $25.00 administrative fee plus $2.00 a page for each of the 2 associations. 1 request I submitted had 3 documents in it and the pm was going to charge $75.00 just in admin fees plus the $2.00 a page. At the last HOA meeting, we argued that these fees are excessive and the board did finally agree that they are excessive and agreed to a $25.00 admin fee per request,(not per document) and .25 a page which is in our resale disclosure packet. The pm tried to say that the board had decided on the higher fee and that it has gone up since I received my packet. I have looked at a new Home Owners packet and theirs still reflected the .25 a page. Coming up next month, we will bring the fees up to the Condo board and see what is the outcome. Even at the new charge, it is $25.00 per association which is $50.00 just in admin fees. Even if what you are asking for is 1 page, it will be $50.00 admin fee + the per page rate.

For the Condo board, we did not have a Secretary/Treasurer.

John,
Please understand that the info on the fees that were charged was just in response to Susan's question.
I want to know what kind of proof and what kind of agency to contact.

Collectively, we pay over $750,000.00 a year in HOA and Condo fees, little in HOA and no money in Condo reserves, the fees go up each year, special assessments almost every year, loans taken out, money transferred from past reserves to cover the excess in operation funding, various money collected not being declared as income, we pay for 1 and 1/2 maintenance men that do not do much, (work orders not done yet turned in as complete) an outside company is being paid $65,000.00 a year to do wood repair, replacement and painting of trim that is not checked behind, (ex. rotted wood on a chimney was painted over, however the house was completed)PM stated that they do not go behind every work orders, I don't know for sure, but have been told that one of the office employees is the pm's daughter and the full time maintenance man is her boyfriend. Bonuses that go from bonuses to incorporated into the salary, back to bonuses. I questioned this one year and was told that the board voted on incorporating it into the salary. When it was brought up for the board to hear, not only did they not know about it, the pm denied it changing. (luckily, I had the past budgets to prove it.) I have knowledge of a few more things that are major charges however until I have the proof, I can not say.
This is to me, beyond the board and I need to know who to contact.

Thank you John.

Mary,

Thank you for responding.
Majority of the Board are ignorant to what has been going on for years. They show up for the meetings and that is it. My neighbors and myself spend more time reading the By-Laws and budgets and notices than the board members do. It is ridiculous how little the board does do. We are just now beginning to see a couple that now may have questions.
I do have a copy of her contract and it does not say anything about these fees.
Today there is a notice on the Condo home owners doors stating that if you have a gate, the lawn service will no longer be cutting your lawn. The rule in the past was as long as you left your gate opened the grass would be cut.
No Board meeting has occurred for the Board to vote on this.

Mary,
Thank you again, for your input. I agree. Almost all of both boards need to go and the pm, office staff and maintenance. We just do not know where to start. We do know that the board needs to go before any chance of the rest can change.
Have you ever witnessed a Recall?

We have a very strong indication that our self appointed Property manager is embezzling funds. She will not allow anyone to inspect the actual records, she provides prepared statements etc.
Our CPA, who I spoke with directly, informed me that he is given these prepared statements for audits.
May I add that she is also a Homeowner in the complex.

We want to turn her in to the authorities but without access to the actual accounts we don't have proof of what's going on. We can't afford
a lawyer to represent us, the board COMPLETELY backs her up and supports her.
We are at a loss.

One of the homeowners did a background check and public records show that in 1992 she was convicted of Welfare Fraud and was
convicted of Grand Theft, she is a felon. This was brought out at an emergency HOA meeting because she has enforced a 20% increase in
our HOA dues effective 06/01/19. Board members did NOTHING!
Can someone guide us in the right direction? We are desperate. There is too much pertinent information to write.
We are in California.
Thank you.

You have accused someone IN WRITING of a crime while admitting lack of evidence.

You are 'prima facie' guilty of Libel.

Look it up THEN get legal help and PRAY you are not sued.

Thank you JohnS111

RoyalP, first, nobody who can be specifically identified was accused of anything.
I guess no one knows who the treasurer is.

Second, libel is making a false statement about someone that damages the person. You haven't shown either thing here. The statement may turn out to be correct, and you haven't shown any damage.
Libel / slander includes making a criminal accusation without any evidence when one KNOWS one has no evidence.

The better approach would be to state to Carl02, "Carl02, before you make statements about someone embezzling, be sure that the statement is true. Until then, be very careful in what you say; stick to the facts that you know for sure."
Agree

The OP accused the treasurer of 'his' HOA of embezzlement and in the same paragraph stated they had no evidence.

bsometer at 100%

This post was re-opened by someone else. It's an old post. The new poster needs to open up a NEW thread for us to respond to. That way we can give up to date advise and not confuse with the original OP... I did actually read this post to know this information as I know it all but don't like colors...

No, in cases of libel, the burden of proof is on the accuser to show that the accusations are correct. Lack of proof means libel, and "free speech" is no defense.

Libel means publicly accusing someone of something that you either know to be false OR you are reckless in determining whether your accusation is true. Posting something on the internet is considered to be publishing your accusations, which is why many boards try to avoid social media and online forums - it's too easy to make libelous claims about identifiable individuals.

Regarding damages, in a number of states it is not necessary to prove damages for certain types of accusations - damages are assumed because of the nature of the accusation. Criminal activity is one of these - the others are having a "loathsome disease" and ethical violations.

Also, CathyA3, embezzlement may be a crime, but not always.