EVERETT – A former employee of the company that runs the Everett Events Center is under investigation for allegedly stealing about $150,000 in public money.
The good news: The theft won’t cost the community a cent, officials said Thursday.
Evidence suggests that a north county woman used her former job at the center to commit first-degree theft, Everett police Sgt. Gary Woodburn said. She has not been arrested or charged.
Woodburn declined to discuss suspicions about how the money disappeared, except to say embezzlement was involved.
“It is certainly somebody taking more than $20 out of the till at the end of their shift,” he said.
The Events Center is publicly owned, and its affairs are managed by the Everett Public Facilities District. It is operated by Global Spectrum, a company that manages similar venues across the U.S. and Canada.
The apparent theft was discovered by Global Spectrum. The company, under its contract with the public facilities district, will cover the losses, said Kim Bedier, the Event Center’s general manager.
“We did determine that some accounting procedures were not followed, and as a result, funds appear to have been misappropriated, for lack of a better word,” she said.
The woman was employed at the events center from December 2003 to mid-November, Everett police spokesman Boyd Bryant said.
Earl Dutton, president of the public facilities district board, said Global Spectrum reported the problem to the board and to police. The state auditor’s office also was alerted because the public facilities district is a municipal agency.
The apparent theft was unfortunate, but there will be no loss to the public, Dutton said.
“What it amounts to is Global Spectrum is a contractor, and by contract they are responsible for any shortfalls. We are absolutely not at risk for one penny,” he said.
The events center is a multimillion-dollar operation. This year, fans are expected to spend $9.2 million at Silvertips hockey games, arena football matches and concerts. Food and beverage sales are projected to top $1.1 million.
Detectives expect to present Snohomish County prosecutors with the findings of their investigation within the next few days, Woodburn said.
State investigators plan to review what police uncovered, as well as conclusions reached by Global Spectrum’s internal auditors, said Mindy Chambers, spokeswoman for the state auditor’s office. The theft will be addressed in the district’s regularly scheduled May audit.
“There are always the lingering questions of why it was not caught sooner,” Dutton said. “But you’re dealing with millions and millions of dollars. People who do these things are able to cover them up. It is well thought out.”
The center has brought people back to Everett’s downtown for sporting events, concerts, community rallies, conferences and celebrations. It was enough of a financial success in 2005 that the public facilities board put an extra $500,000 toward paying down the center’s $54 million construction and financing debt.
An apparent theft isn’t good news, Dutton said Thursday.
“It’s a problem to us, politically,” he said. “Not everyone is going to understand that we’re not at risk. I’ve been concerned the naysayers, the few people who still oppose the events center, will focus on this incident. I don’t want to give them any more ammunition.”
Police kept their investigation quiet over the past two months because they didn’t want to alert anyone who may have been involved and give them the chance to hide evidence, Bryant said.
“It is not something you would traditionally broadcast,” he said.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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