Ex-manager at Seattle Rotary charged with theft

For 22 years, Susan Kinney worked at the Seattle Rotary, where she most recently managed club donations for eradicating land mines in Third World countries, polio vaccinations and other international humanitarian causes.

But Kinney, who colleagues describe as a friend and confidant, spent 4 ½ years siphoning off more than $350,000 from the charity fund, which she used to buy cars and vacations, according to Seattle police and King County prosecutors. On Wednesday, the 48-year-old Redmond woman was charged with 123 felony counts of theft.

Broken down, the charges are 78 counts of first-degree theft and 44 counts of second-degree theft.

If convicted, she faces nearly five years in prison.

Kinney is accused of writing checks to herself out of the Rotary Service Foundation's account between June 16, 2003, and Dec. 28, 2008, according to charging papers filed in King County Superior Court.

"It's a real sense of violation," said Nancy Sclater, past president at the Rotary. "So many of us who have worked in club leadership consider her a friend; we shared parts of our lives."

Kinney was a midlevel manager at the 700-member Rotary and worked in the Service Foundation, or charitable branch. The Seattle Rotary at 700 members is one of the world's largest, Sclater said.

In her position, Kinney was authorized to sign on service foundation accounts. According to charging papers, she concealed the thefts by altering photocopies of checks on file at the Rotary to make it appear that things were not out of the ordinary, court charging documents said.

According to court papers, Kinney wrote checks to herself in amounts that typically matched amounts that the service foundation board had approved for disbursement to charities. Since all inquires about the charitable donations were forwarded to Kinney, she was "able to curtail any complaints" from reaching the board, a police report said.

Kinney's alleged embezzlements went unnoticed even after auditors reviewed her work, Sclater said. It wasn't until a volunteer noticed a discrepancy last year that Rotary staff began investigating, she added. In March, Seattle Rotary Club Executive Director Val Elliott confronted Kinney about the missing money and fired her, charging documents said. Around the same time, Seattle police started investigating.

Elliott declined to comment for this story.

An auditor hired to investigate the foundation's funds found that $356,172.66 was missing, court charges said.

Police spoke with Kinney at her Redmond home on March 6. Kinney was advised of her Miranda Rights, but was not formally arrested.

Sclater said that insurance and Rotary club reserves cushioned the blow of the financial loss so "it has not detracted from our core mission."

"We have been able to continue supporting the community locally and abroad," Sclater said.

Kinney remains out of jail. She will be arraigned on the charges at the King County Courthouse on Oct. 7.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com