In November, at the insistence of the Franchise Tax Board, the Rio Linda Elverta Chamber of Commerce filed a police report with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s office providing more details on the Chamber embezzlement scandal that we wrote about 18 months ago, and names the former chamber directors accused.
(Before we go any further, we need to keep in mind that these charges are currently accusations and the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one has yet been charged. Claims made by someone that are included in a police report may not ever result in any charges.)
At the February 12, 2020 meeting of the Rio Linda Elverta Chamber of Commerce, Vice-President Tabitha Worth disclosed that a financial audit had uncovered a serious deficit.
We first wrote about this situation in June of last year.
It was reported that previous board members of the Chamber misappropriated and mishandled funds. At the suggestion of legal council, those board members believed to be responsible were asked to resign. After the resignations, the new Board sought to recover the funds that had gone missing.
Later, the Chamber of Commerce received a cashier’s check in the amount of $18,590.73 from the RLE Community Foundation.
(The RLE Community Foundation is a non-profit that was established in 2019 and according to bizapedia.com, the Registered Agent on file for this company is Hal E Morris and is located on Q Street in Rio Linda. The company’s mailing address is also in Rio Linda.)
There is a remaining balance that is owed to the Chamber, however, due to the lack of records or receipts kept during that time, it is unknown what that amount is, and doubtful it will ever be recovered.
“Currently in the Chamber account, we currently have approximately $16,000 in our checking and our savings account. With money that is coming back to us, we will have just a little over $34,000 dollars.”
RLE Chamber VP Tabitha Worth
The current board has made strides toward getting the non-profit status reinstated, and the IRS is on board. However, the Franchise Tax Board has asked that a police report be filed before they would consider reinstating the non-profit status.
The chamber had not previously filed a police report, as they were waiting for direction from the District Attorney’s office.
That police report was filed on November 10th of this year.
Those previous directors accused in the police report are:
- Hal Morris – Director
- Lisa Morris – President
- Chantel Landstrom – Treasurer
It is reported that “These suspects embezzled monies from the Chamber of Commerce going back years… Going back to 2017 there is appx. $25,000 worth of expenses and online purchases… They failed to file taxes which caused the Chamber to lose its tax status.”
They are also accused of starting three other non-profit organizations with Chamber money.
This is a good time to point out once again that these charges are currently accusations and the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one has yet been charged. Claims made by someone that are included in a police report may not ever result in any charges.
“We are doing the best we can to make sure we uphold the Mission of the RLE Chamber of Commerce. It’s not always an easy road to do the right thing and seek justice, but going forward, we are doing what it takes to restore our community’s faith and trust in this organization.”
Kris McCandless, RLE Chamber of Commerce President
In addition to being former members of the RLE Chamber of Commerce, Hal Morris is currently a member of Sacramento County’s Rio Linda Elverta Community Planning Advisory Council, and Lisa Morris is currently a director on the board of the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Parks District.
“I had received calls stating that The RLE Chamber was delinquent in paying their bills and they were months behind on several accounts. I needed to step in and pay the bills with a debit card, I did not have access to the checkbook. It definitely did not look good for The Chamber of Commerce not paying their bills. I did not use any Chamber monies for personal use. I met with two Chamber Directors, gave them receipts that were in my possession, and answered all questions asked of me. The very next day I went to the bank with 3 Directors to take my name off of The Chamber’s account and add their names. I told them if they needed anything else from me to please ask. I never heard anything from The RLE Chamber nor anyone regarding this matter until I was contacted by John Todd.”
Lisa Morris
I spoke to Hal Morris who declined to comment, and Chantel Landstrom did not respond to requests via email.
