At Least She Shared Her Embezzlement With Charity

By Gary Snyder

After having stolen $10.2 million over more than six years,  she used the money for "worldwide travel, luxury gifts to friends, the purchase of houses for herself and family members, purchases of great quantities of jewelry and other items on television shopping networks. 

She successfully bid on items from Charity Buzz, where she purchased various 'experiences,' including a tour of the Vatican, an on-stage escort at the Phantom of the Opera, lunch for six prepared by the Barefoot Contessa at her residence in East Hampton, New York, a trip to the Super Bowl where she and friends occupied a hospitality suite, and dinner with actor Kevin Spacey. 


Embezzler Patricia K. Smith transferred money from Baierl Acura to her own accounts more than 800 times from 2004 through 2011. Ms. Smith, and her relatives, have turned over to the government "4 homes (three of those houses were home to two of her sons and her nephew), 10 vehicles, 34 items of personal property belonging to her son, 40 items of personal property in Ms. Smith's residence, 3 items of personal property in another son's residence, Ms. Smith's stock in a private airline company, $20,839.06 in cash that was in a bank account, over $30,000 in prepaid travel, 133 pieces of jewelry, and 25 gold coins." (link)




Nonprofit Imperative gathers its information principally from public documents...some of which are directly quoted. Virtually all cited are in some phase of criminal proceedings; some have not been charged, however. Cites in various media: Featured in print, broadcast, and online media outlets, including: Vermont Public Radio, Miami Herald, National Public Radio, Huffington Post, The Sun News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal (Profile, News and Photos), FOX2, ABC Spotlight on the News, WWJ Radio, Ethics World, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, St. Petersburg Times, B, USA Today Topics, , Newsweek.com, Responsive Philanthropy Magazine, New York Times...and many more • Nonprofits: On the Brink (iUniverse, 2006)