Upper School Director Meredith Godley announced Wednesday that two additional cash boxes have gone missing in the past week.
Godley made the initial announcement to the Upper School following Meeting for Worship for Business, where she asked students to remain vigilant. WordsWorth asked for details about the two recent incidents, and Godley declined to provide them “because [the school] is involving the police.”
While the two incidents are heavily rumored, people familiar with the matter would not confirm the incidents to WordsWorth. WordsWorth does not report on rumors.
The two incidents follow a WordsWorth investigation in February that revealed a trend of 10s and 20s stolen from cash boxes overnight from the Humanitarian Aid Club, the Dining Hall, and the Hot Dog Economic stands. Service Committee Advisor Gail Barna and Dining Hall Manager Kimberly Watson both said they did not have money taken from their cash boxes this week.
Middle School English Teacher and former Middle School Director Steve Shaffer, who coordinated the charity money for the faculty dress down day last Friday, said he has “all of [the money from that event]” in a cash box in a secure location.
In February, WordsWorth asked Director of Finance and Operations Lisa Carbone Warren whether or not the police would be contacted after three cash boxes went missing: “I would be the one to contact the police, and I wouldn’t contact the police. I’m not sure if they would do anything for that small amount of money if it’s an internal thing.”
Additionally in February, Carbone Warren said she would look further into the incidents. The school has not returned a request for comment asking whether her investigation had closed, and why they decided to get the police involved after they decided not to earlier this year. Carbone Warren was out of the office Wednesday.
Bookkeeper Jaime Baker said she put labels on all the boxes to remind everyone that the boxes do not lock and people should bring them back to the business office once the sale is over. “I did put the labels on there to remind them, so the policy has been the same, it’s just not always followed,” Baker concluded.
A cash box used by MFS.
Afternoon Front Desk Coordinator Chuck Viggiano served for three decades in the Moorestown Police Department before retiring in 2013 and joining MFS in 2014. Asked about what a police investigation might look like, Viggiano said investigators would look to see if all the boxes stolen have something in common, such as areas or times. “They might interview some witnesses who have some knowledge on the area,” said Viggiano.
“There’s not a whole lot they can do after the fact,” continued Viggiano. “If they find the actual box they might be able to take fingerprints to see if anything matches up.” In addition, Viggiano said, they may take a close look at whether it was an inside job by someone not authorized to handle cash boxes, a theft, or someone who was not supposed to be inside the building, a theft and burglary.
Viggiano said that if there were checks in the cashbox, someone might try and cash them. “They might not go to a bank but they might go to a cashing agency,” said Viggiano, adding that while that would be a solid lead, investigators would still need to prove that person actually stole the check.
Godley said as soon as she is allowed to share more information, she will.
