Scourge of Healdton, Oklahoma

Healdton's treasured treasurer took advantage of an oblivious city council and city manager and defrauded the city of at least $80,000 using three different methods. Her story shows how small nonprofits are particularly susceptible to fraudsters. 

District Associate Judge Lee Card asked Karen Kardaleff what she had done. "Took money," she responded. "How did they catch you?" "The audit." He asked her why she had done it. "It was too easy," she said. "I didn't buy anything big." She said she used the nearly $80,000 she stole to pay bills and give to friends. Card sentenced the former treasurer of Healdton, Oklahoma, to a year in jail and ordered her to pay back the full amount to the city. (See "Former Healdton city clerk pleads guilty to embezzlement," by Michael Pineda, The Daily Ardmoreite, May 29, 2014.) Lack of controls and an oblivious city council and city manager allowed Healdton to freely loot the coffers.

Vulnerable nonprofits