Ireland : A former Dallas-based employee of the American Ireland Fund (AIF) and her son have denied allegations that they stole from the charity.
Karla D Stover, formerly director of AIF’s Texas region between October 2014 and January 2018, is alleged to have created fictitious companies and charged AIF for services never performed.
In court documents seen by The Irish Times, Ms Stover, who was responsible for fundraising, is also alleged to have caused the charity to pay her son, Robert Joseph Stover, in excess of $330,000 (€286,000), after which he transferred the funds back to Ms Stover.
Additionally, the charity has alleged that Ms Stover fraudulently charged AIF for a personal vacation to Ireland and Italy for herself, her son (RJ Stover), and two others by submitting false invoices that claimed the trip was for business purposes.
AIF also said Ms Stover used her “corporate credit card to steal AIF’s money and purchase items and services for her own personal use and the use of her family and friends”.
In her response to AIF’s petition, Ms Stover denied “each and every allegation”. She said that some or all of the claims and reliefs sought were barred by the statute of limitations.
She also asserted that “in the event that it is found” that she took the property of AIF, she did so by “mistake or accident”.
