Local High School Booster Club Audited

IRS officials are investigating the Fern Creek High School Booster Club.About $500,000 previously recorded in the club's books is unaccounted for. It's unclear whether the missing money was embezzled or if a bookkeeping error is to blame.Attorney Charles Adkins says it will be difficult to determine where the money could have gone because of the lack of experience and continuity in the organization.“These problems arise, especially in booster clubs, because they don’t have a continuity of leadership," he says. "You have a parent who joins a booster club when their child is at a school, and that parent may be elected or asked to serve in a leadership position of the organization and these parents generally are not trained and don’t always have the skills to properly manage or account for all the money a booster club brings in.”According to Adkins the main sources of revenue for the club were bingo and charitable gaming, which he says can be a “mine field” for a volunteer driven organization. The IRS has not released its final report and has been asked to conduct audits on individual members of the group. The non-profit association faces possible criminal charges and a revocation of their tax-exempt status if the IRS determines that foul play was involved.JCPS has no ties to the booster club and cannot regulate its actions.