Ex-WGBH accountant arraigned on embezzlement charges
A former manager of accounting at Boston’s WGBH was arraigned Feb. 13 [2009] on charges that the two-decade employee embezzled nearly $500,000 from the station over nine years.
Philip McCabe’s attorney entered his not-guilty plea. The defendant was not required to attend the arraignment, according to a spokesperson for the Massachusetts attorney general. McCabe’s trial date has not been set; lawyers will meet in a pretrial conference April 16.
McCabe worked in WGBH’s accounting department from January 1987 to June 2007. In 1993, McCabe was given exclusive control of an account used to pay the company’s bank and credit card fees, among other charges.
The attorney general’s office began investigating McCabe last July after WGBH’s controller found discrepancies in McCabe’s accounting work. Investigators allege that he used company funds to pay for hundreds of personal expenses, including vacations, golfing, dining, liquor, clothes and household goods, between 1998 and 2007.
McCabe was manipulating records to elude auditors, says Jeanne Hopkins, v.p. of communications and government relations at WGBH. After discovering the discrepancies, WGBH put new controls in place and hired a forensic accountant to assess how the company could strengthen procedures, she says.
Because McCabe embezzled in small amounts over many years, the loss will not affect WGBH’s overall budget, Hopkins says. WGBH is asking its insurance carrier to cover losses.
Web page posted Feb. 17, 2009
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