Following last week’s indictment of two members of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ for felony larcency, the severity of the alleged theft has become more clear.
Suzanne M. Pomey ’02 and Randy J. Gomes ’02 stole more than $100,000 from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ accounts, Theatricals executives told company members at a secretive emergency meeting on Wednesday, said sources within the Pudding.
The two will be arraigned tomorrow in Middlesex County Superior Court. They each face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Pomey produced the Theatricals’ 2001 show and was business manager of the 2000 production. Gomes was only a business staff member for only one year, helping to organize the high-profile Man and Woman of the Year awards.
But the indictment shows that the withdrawal of funds continued for more than a year, from March 2000 through June 2001, even after Pomey’s term as producer finished in April of that year. Producers have full access to Theatricals finances, sources within the Pudding said, explaining that certain financial information is known only to producers.
According to an internal e-mail obtained by The Crimson, the discrepencies in the Theatricals’ finances were first discovered by Lena Demashkieh ’03 and Joshua N. Bress ’02, the producers of this year’s musical.
In the e-mail sent on Friday, Demashkieh, Bress and Alumni Liason Kevin E. Meyers ’02, who is also a Crimson editor, informed Theatricals alumni of the alleged theft.
They added that they have already changed their financial practices to prevent any future attempts to steal from the Theatricals.
“[We] have taken steps to revise our accounting procedures so that something of this nature can never happen again,” the e-mail said.
Harvard’s Office of Risk Management and Audit Services (RMAS) has advised the current Theatricals leadership and their graduate board, the producers wrote to alumni.
RMAS is the University’s internal consulting firm that works with administrators, Faculty and staff to assure compliance with regulations and sound accounting procedures. A search of the RMAS website found no mention of dealings with student organizations.
Demashkieh and Bress added in the e-mail to alumni that they are convinced that Pomey and Gomes acted alone.
“These students acted entirely independently of any other company members, including their fellow producer and business managers,” the e-mail said.
They also told alumni they “have strong reason to believe that most of the stolen money will be returned,” but did not say what information caused this expectation.
The producers had consulted with their board of alumni before reporting the alleged crimes to the Harvard University Police Department in September or to University administators, the e-mail said.
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