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www.WhiDBEYNEWSTIMES.com Wednesday, May 22, 2013 • Whidbey News-Times
Second lawsuit filed against woman accused of stealing Bookkeeper allegedly took more than $200,000 from organizations By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
A second lawsuit was filed Monday against a bookkeeper accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from two North Whidbey community organizations. Oak Harbor attorney Thomas Sandstrom, who works at the law offices of Christon Skinner, filed the complaint for money damages in Island County Superior Court on behalf of Hillcrest Village Water Co. The long list of defendants in the suit include 50-year-old Oak Harbor resident Wendy Murphy, her husband, another relative, Rolling Hills-Glencairn Community Service, two
credit card companies, a mortgage company and three insurance companies. Rolling Hills-Glencairn Community Service also filed a lawsuit against Wendy Murphy earlier this year. Murphy didn’t contest that suit and the judge ordered a judgment against her requiring she pay Rolling HillsGlencairn $57,000. Under the terms of the Rolling Hills-Glencairn settlement, Wendy Murphy’s husband, Sean Murphy, was removed from the list of defendants. Each wrote statements explaining that he knew nothing about the embezzlement and that the marital community didn’t profit. In his declaration, Sean Murphy wrote that his wife went to the casino frequently, but he monitored their bank accounts and she never spent a lot of money. He wrote that neither he nor his business received any of the money she allegedly embezzled.
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Court documents state that Valerie Wiley, the former bookkeeper for Rolling Hills, trained Wendy Murphy to take over for her in 2009. The community’s board approached Wiley in early 2013 after concerns arose about missing funds. Wiley reviewed the books and discovered that thousands of dollars were missing. Court documents also state that the majority of the funds were taken through unauthorized charges and cash advances on the organization’s credit card. The Rolling Hills board president sent out a letter to members in March which states that officials believe that individual accounts were not affected. To complicate matters, Wendy Murphy allegedly embezzled money from Hillcrest Village Water Co., where she was also employed as a bookkeeper, to cover her embezzlement from Rolling Hills, according to an affidavit in support of a search warrant. The affidavit is on file in Island County Superior Court. Wendy Murphy is not been charged with a crime.
Lt. Mike Hawley with the Island County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the allegations. The prosecutor’s office has not received his report yet. In a lawsuit filed Monday, Sandstrom wrote that Wendy Murphy allegedly embezzled more than $168,000 from Hillcrest Village Water Co. while she was the organization’s bookkeeper. The lawsuit also states that Rolling Hills-Glencairn Community Service is liable for $61,000 it received from checks that Wendy Murphy wrote on the Hillcrest Village Water account. Rolling Hills “knew or should known” that the checks were not authorized and “failed to make reasonable inquiries into the source and purpose of the receipts,” Hillcrest Village Water Co. maintains in its lawsuit. Likewise, the lawsuit indicates that Wendy Murphy wrote checks on the Hillcrest account to cover thousands of dollars of her credit card and other bills. Sandstrom said he filed the lawsuit against the entities to recover the “unjust enrichment.”
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Staff reporter
Whidbey General Hospital officials are putting out a call for people interested in serving as the District No. 4 commissioner. Roger Case held the position for nearly 18 years but is stepping down. His last day is June 15. The board said it wants to name a replacement the week before at its monthly meeting. The only trouble is efforts to recruit willing candidates have not gone according to plan. “We’ve had it on our website but not a single person has applied,” said Trish Rose, spokeswoman for Whidbey General. The hospital board is composed of five commissioners who are charged with creating and adopting policy for the district while also overseeing operations, including the delivery of quality patient care. According to a message posted on the hospital’s website by board President Ann Tarrant, the board is seeking “civic-minded and capable” applicants with business and or health care experience. “The successful applicant must be able to commit to
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selected committee meetings that may occur during the day,” the message said. “She or he must also be able to attend regularly scheduled board meetings held monthly at 5 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at Whidbey General Hospital.” Once someone is appointed, that person will also have to run in the November general election in order to retain the seat. Hospital commissioner terms are for six years. Filing for open elected offices in Island County closed last week and the District No. 4 hospital seat was one of 14 positions that received no candidate filings. In response, the Island County Auditor’s Office will hold a special filing period for those races June 3 through 5. Declarations of candidacy will be accepted each day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Elections Office in Coupeville. To apply for the hospital appointment, resumes can be mailed to the board chairwoman at Whidbey General Hospital, 101 North Main St., Coupeville, 98239. Board members will review the applications and interview the most qualified applicants prior to naming their selected candidate.
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Conclusion of Filing Week resulted in no candidates for two dozen offices across Whidbey Island. As a result, the Island County Auditor’s Office scheduled a special filing period for three days in early June. The special filing period is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, June 3 through Wednesday, June 5. On the Coupeville School Board, Position No. 2 is apparently being vacated by Jeff Tasoff; he didn’t file for reelection last week. Another race without candidates is a seat on the Whidbey General Hospital Board being vacated by Roger Case Case recently announced he will resign from his seat effective June 15. The remaining dozen
empty seats are on various water district boards located throughout Island County. While the auditor’s office offered an online option during the regular filing period, people interested in the vacant seats will be required to file in person at the Elections Office, located on North Main Street in Coupeville. If nobody files for the empty seats by the end of the special filing period, then they won’t appear on the November ballot. Nobody would be able to write in a candidates name for those empty seats either, Reagan said. It would then be up to the elected board to appoint a replacement, who would then run for office during the next general election. For more information, call the Election’s Office at 360679-7366.