Lake Wales, FL – Lake Wales Care Center is devastated that a trusted employee, Marcus Kirby, appears to have misappropriated a considerable sum of funds for personal gain. Mr. Kirby accomplished this through intentional inappropriate handling of client funds. We want to emphasize that no donor or grant funds have been compromised in any way. This mishandling was a matter of not recording and depositing, in Care Center accounts,payments made by clients from various programs. Funds that were allocated for Individual Savings Accounts have been “made whole”.
When Care Center administration learned of this misappropriation of funds, authorities and board leaders were notified immediately. Care Center has cooperated to the fullest extent with the Lake Wales Police Department and intends to pursue appropriate legal action, to include restitution.
For 37 years, Care Center has received annual financial audits by a certified public accounting firm and without exception has received a clean audit for financial practices. Those audits are not designed to detect for fraud, however they do ensure our policies and practices for handling funds are appropriate and sound. This incident is not a result of inadequate procedures, but instead a deliberate deceptive action of an employee who did not follow prescribed protocols.
Care Center is saddened and highly disappointed in Mr. Kirby’s actions. Our hearts break for all those affected by his actions. It is our prayer he will follow a path of correction, restoration and restitution. We further pray that his family and all those affected by his actions will find peace and healing.
All questions and concerns should be addressed to Care Center Executive Director, Rob Quam.
863-676-6678 ext. 1302