A Fayetteville resident, Martin J. Svoboda II, 72, is going through accusations of stealing 1000’s of {dollars} from the Arkansas Veterans Village, a nonprofit group offering transitional housing to homeless veterans. Svoboda alleges that he succumbed to a crypto blackmail scheme, a declare that has been scrutinized by authorities.
The arrest of Svoboda, who served because the nonprofit’s treasurer, is available in reference to three counts of theft of property. Whereas prosecutors have but to file costs, the case sheds gentle on a sequence of monetary irregularities throughout the group.
Cindy Ford, the president of Arkansas Veterans Village, found the discrepancies when Arvest Financial institution notified her of a detrimental steadiness of $7,000 in considered one of their accounts, considerably decrease than the anticipated $63,000 to $64,000, as reported in a possible trigger affidavit. Ford knowledgeable Rogers police that Svoboda had entry to all of the group’s accounts and allegedly misappropriated funds for private bills since 2016.
In keeping with Ford, Svoboda had been writing checks to himself, diverting the cash meant for the nonprofit to cowl private gadgets, together with electrical payments. Regardless of Svoboda assuring the group that their accounts had been updated, an inner investigation revealed vital monetary misconduct.
In December, Ford took decisive motion, emailing Svoboda to inform him that he was now not the treasurer and demanding the return of all group property. Subsequently, Svoboda reportedly admitted to the police that he had taken $150,000. He acknowledged the nonprofit’s bylaws prohibited such private use of funds.
Svoboda claimed he fell sufferer to scammers in October who allegedly blackmailed him with digitally altered nude images, demanding cost in bitcoin to keep away from tarnishing his popularity. In response, Svoboda asserted that he used the nonprofit’s cash to meet the scammers’ calls for but in addition contributed $41,000 of his personal funds to reimburse the group.
Investigations led the police to find 125 Arkansas Veterans Village checks made out to Svoboda, with all however two marked for deposit into his private financial institution accounts, totaling $105,935. Svoboda is presently held on the Benton County Jail with a bond set at $25,000. His arraignment is scheduled for February 12 in Benton County Circuit Decide Brad Karren’s court docket.
Because the authorized proceedings unfold, questions linger over the authenticity of Svoboda’s claims of falling prey to a crypto blackmail scheme, including complexity to a case that has uncovered monetary mismanagement throughout the nonprofit group.