Former University of Michigan employee charged with embezzlement
A former business administrator at the University of Michigan's Center for AfroAmerican and African Studies is accused of embezzling more than $85,000 from the university.
Donald Lewis Sims Jr. is charged with one count of embezzling $50,000 or more but less than $100,000 and three counts of embezzling $1,000 or more but less than $20,000.
Sims, 41, of Ypsilanti Township, was arrested by University of Michigan police earlier this month and was released on a personal recognizance bond after being arraigned.
His attorney, Don Ferris, declined to comment on the charges this afternoon.
Sims is accused of “fraudulently purchasing” at least 75 computers and 14 computer-related items valued at nearly $74,000, University of Michigan police spokeswoman Diane Brown said. Sims sold the equipment for personal gain, Brown said. It was part of his job to buy equipment for CAAS, which is a unit of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Brown said.
Sims also is accused of making about $14,000 in other fraudulent purchases, for which the university was not reimbursed, Brown said. According to court records, those purchases were made on a University of Michigan credit card.
The alleged criminal activity occurred between Jan. 1, 2008, and Feb. 11 of this year, court records show. Sims' employment ended March 22, university spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said. Sims began working for the university in September 1990, Cunningham said.
His most recent annual salary as an intermediate business administrator was $66,868, Cunningham said.
Sims, who waived his right to a preliminary hearing, is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing July 22. If convicted of the felony charges, he faces up to 30 years in prison, court records show.
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2527 and leehiggins@annarbor.com.
Comments
Crystal
Wed, Jul 7, 2010 : 1 p.m.
I know this person. He is not made of the fabric to do what is suggested in this article. Remember, he was charged not convicted. He is innocent until proven guilty, which I doubt will happen, if justice prevails. If this was you,a close friend or family member, you would want people to focus on all the facts. I am disappointed that the author chose to write about this, especially without this gentleman's side of the story, knowing that these type of accusations and charges can destroy someone's life. In this case, a person that has never been in trouble, is a hard worker committed to U of M and is upstanding. Somethings not right here.
Truthisfree
Wed, Jun 30, 2010 : 8:34 a.m.
A system set up for INNOCENT until proven guilty goes wayward with these stories. We suffer in society because people are so quick to make judgement. If he is proven guilty, then these comments make sense. If we are standing as americans then the constitution and system should serve us as innocent until proven guilty instead of guilty until proven innocent. The U does have a lot of checks and balances which make it very difficult to "fraudulently purchase" anything. The credit cards are somewhat easier to abuse as they are at many companies.
Mick52
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 11:28 p.m.
Right Chunky, if the sentences are mandatory. Not many are. I would bet that those in prison for non violent crimes, convicted for crimes with non mandatory sentences, are repeat offenders. I figure you are correct but other than controlled substance offenses can you give us some examples? Please do not quote or refer to wikipedia. It has a reputation that it cannot be relied on. Anyone can post something on wikipedia, true or not.
ChunkyPastaSauce
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 9:38 p.m.
Mick52: I agree with most of what you have said except "There are three basic reasons, Mr. Joad, that embezzlers do not go to jail. One, they are often first offenders and sentencing guidelines go easy on non violent crimes. Two, they want the suspect to go work and start paying back. Three, your prisons are full of violent offenders and there is no room for non violent offenders." A ton of non violent first offense crimes have mandatory prison sentences... Also, in state prisions, over 50% of the prison population are non-violent offenders. you can find more on wikipedia Incarceration_in_the_United_States
A2 Rez
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 7:46 p.m.
Mick52 hit the nail on the head. The people who are being paid to check P Card statements and perform other administrative functions should also be penalized for not doing their job. It's a very rare occurrence when this happens.
Mick52
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 7:13 p.m.
The U has policies in place for departments to follow in regard to funds and use of these credit cards. These incidents happen because someone was not doing their job, which is checking the CC statements, just like uawisok pointed out. Always felt those folks should be fired too. Typically, the fraud starts small and once the suspect is confident no one is checking up, they broaden their taking more and more. What is most stupid about it is that with most frauds there is a paper trail and its fairly easy to track the activity and collect the evidence. There are three basic reasons, Mr. Joad, that embezzlers do not go to jail. One, they are often first offenders and sentencing guidelines go easy on non violent crimes. Two, they want the suspect to go work and start paying back. Three, your prisons are full of violent offenders and there is no room for non violent offenders. That he made $66k/yr and steals doesn't strike me as odd. Saw one once where the thief made $300k/yr and still did some frauds.
seldon
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 11:03 a.m.
The University is certainly aware of the risk. They do have checks and balances, they do have internal audits, and they've nailed people for abuse of University accounts in the past. I'm certainly curious as to how this guy apparently got away with it for so long, and I hope we'll find out. However, I don't think it's a negative reflection on the University that something like this has happened. They've got 40,000 employees. I don't know how many of them have PCards, but it's got to be a few thousand. People will occasionally do this, and they'll occasionally slip past the checks and have to be prosecuted.
Woman in Ypsilanti
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 10:14 a.m.
I don't mind pointing out that this guy hasn't been convicted of anything yet. He very well may be able to explain everything. But in a general sense, it does boggle my mind that anyone would risk such a good job stealing from their employer. But stealing from an employer is hardly something limited to people with jobs that pay well. Retailers lose billions every year to employee theft and those workers are generally at or just above minimum wage. It just doesn't make the news when someone like that gets caught sneaking a twenty out of a register.
uawisok
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 9:28 a.m.
Each U-M department is responsible for monthly balancing/auditing all p-cards, this process keeps my wife gainfully employed. Her department immediatly deals with any unauthorized use of P-cards. Sounds like African American studies department oversight must have been lax....bet it's not now...albeit too late.
Ricebrnr
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 9:12 a.m.
What?!?!? You mean this type of thing can happen at a major institution with theoretically well entrenched checks and balances? Presumably also with highly paid accountants to check the books? I thought this could only happen with small organizations like say local hockey leagues.... Nice to see the egalitarian nature of crime on campus. The ruffians can only dream of the amounts of money these white collar criminals get.
A2 Rez
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 9:04 a.m.
In many cases, it's not the higher-ups who discover anything but a co-worker who turns in the alleged culprit. I'm a long time employee of the University and am amazed at how they hand out credit cards (P Cards)like M&M's with little justification required for why you need the card.
naturally
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 8:27 a.m.
It's a shame that someone would throw away a 20-year career at the UM for a little bit of money. Being a department administrator and a long-time employee, he should have known that eventually the higher-ups would figure out what was going on. But I guess he felt the easy money was worth the risk.
scooter dog
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 8:26 a.m.
With the judges we have in this county he'll be lucky to do any hard time,let alone have to pay it back. Why did it take 2 yrs for it to come to light? Probably the same reason the other 2 or 3 theifs got away with it for eons.Nobody chose to do there job and there were zero "checks and Balances" done every month.
Rasputin
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 8:12 a.m.
Eww, that is gross! So much for higher learning, huh?
Matthew
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 8:07 a.m.
Paul, If you take a look at other embezzlement stories on a2.com, there's a recurring theme. It's all about well-paid folks who want more...spending embezzled money on expensive jewelry, horses, and vacations. You never read about someone stealing money from the workplace to pay for their kidney transplant. Then again, that may be due to the fact that employees who get paid very little aren't given access to large spending budgets. It's really disheartening to work at U-M and see this kind of behavior from one's co-workers. U-M is a pretty relaxed place to work; hate it when people abuse that trust and poison the atmosphere here.
Forever27
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 8:03 a.m.
@JSA the credit cards aren't the problem. They're quite common every where in the business world. Every department has a person who is supposed to reconcile the credit card balances and make sure that everyone is crossing their t's and dotting their i's. Most places have no problems because most people who are issued the cards are honest, hard working individuals. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater because one person was corrupt.
JSA
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 7:34 a.m.
So much for any real financial controls existing at U of M. What genius came up with the idea to issue credit cards? They should also be looking for a new job.
Tony Livingston
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 7 a.m.
@happy, the university started issuing credit cards in the 90s to avoid the costs of issuing purchase orders. Like hundreds of employees there, I had one in my desk. Shopping anyone!? The bills come in at the end of the month and unless a direct supervisor takes the time to track down each item someone has purchased, this could go on for a long time.
Newzdog
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 6:25 a.m.
Doesn't sound like this guy is very bright. Screws up a 66K U of M job for that kind of money.
happy
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 6:09 a.m.
What took the University 2 years to discover this embezzlement?!?! Good grief. Is anyone watching the store? How could his co-workers not notice what was going on? I think a few forensic accountants need to be hired by U-M and sent out like bloodhounds to ferret out this corruption. Disgusting.
Paul Taylor
Tue, Jun 29, 2010 : 5:04 a.m.
$66k salary?!? I can only fantasize about making $66k. I can't understand how such well-compensated people can justify embezzlement. I know they must justify it--understanding their justification just escapes me. At $66k, hell, I'd be donating back to the program. But then, that's just me.
Tom Joad
Mon, Jun 28, 2010 : 3:59 p.m.
Facing 30 years in prison is a joke...more than likely he'll get a few months. These embezzlers all skate with limited time for their misdeeds.