GREENWOOD, Ind. — The former executive director of CHAMP Camp is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the charity for children with special needs.
Alysia Caldwell is now wanted by police and faces two felony theft charges.
CHAMP Camp is a place where kids with physical challenges, who use ventilators, have tracheostomies or other respiratory issues, don't have to sit on the sidelines.
They play.
They grow.
They thrive.
But the stellar summer experience provided by the Greenwood-based non-profit was put in danger, investigators say, by its former executive director.
Caldwell, 34, is accused of stealing at least $26,000 from CHAMP Camp.
"The amounts matched up and we were able to prove she was using it for her own benefit," said Greenwood Police Det. Sgt. Aaron Hagist, who's been working the case for eight months.
Johnson County prosecutors filed charges against Caldwell Oct. 19.
Caldwell's job from 2018 through the beginning of 2021 was to take care of the bills and expenses for CHAMP Camp.
Instead, detectives allege she was taking care of herself, funneling money meant for kids to pay for personal expenses, then cooking the books to cover it up.
"We found all sorts of transactions that were happening to pay mortgages, to pay rent, phone bill, cable bill. There were collection agencies she'd paid off using the CHAMP Camp bank account," Hagist said, "and with this type of organization, limited funding could have meant them having to close at some point if it were to continue."
Ironically, Caldwell lost her job at the charity in January, when she was let go because they didn't have the cash to pay her anymore.
"She kind of created her own demise in that position because she was using the money that ultimately was paying her own salary," Hagist said.
The board originally thought the hit to the budget was pandemic-created.
But when the board president took over the charity's financials, police say he learned the financial loss was much more than they even knew and then discovered the alleged crime.
"He started noticing discrepancies in their quick book accounts compared to the actual bank account," Hagist explained. "In a sync of those two accounts, he realized there was a huge discrepancy."
CHAMP Camp Board President Rick Adams can't talk about the investigation, but he did share a statement with 13News, saying the charity will survive.
"I want to assure you that CHAMP Camp is now in good hands with a committed and conscientious group of individuals comprising our Board, camp leadership, and Co-Founders, Dave and Nancy. We have implemented new 'financial controls' to assure that CHAMP Camp funds are used appropriately and responsibly as they always were prior to Ms. Caldwell’s arrival," Adams wrote.
They continue fundraising efforts, so kids don't pay the price for what police call criminal greed.
"We will continue to provide the greatest summer camp experience possible for children and adolescents with tracheostomies and those who require technological respiratory assistance. We can’t carry out our mission without our generous and devoted donors, skilled, compassionate, and selfless volunteers, and our enthusiastic campers and their families," Adams wrote in his statement.