BLOOMFIELD TWP. (WWJ) - An Oakland County man is facing embezzlement charges for allegedly stealing from a scholarship fund.
Craig Alvin Maass of Bloomfield Hills was arrested by Oakland County Sheriff's deputies last week in connection with the theft of nearly $700,000 from the Oakland Hills Caddie Scholarship Trust. While preparing an IRS form required for non-profits last summer, fiduciaries of the Oakland Hills Caddie Scholarship Trust noticed irregularities in the account, and suspected misconduct by Maass, who was president of the trust at the time. A forensic audit then revealed that $697,000 had been embezzled and converted over for Maass' personal use, according to investigators.
Board members of the trust then called the sheriff's office, which launched an investigation; and after conducting interviews and obtaining search warrants for Maass' financial records, detectives requested a warrant for Mass' arrest.
Maass, 60, was taken into custody Jan. 31 and arraigned in 48th District Court on six counts of Embezzlement by a Fiduciary over $100,000, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The Oakland Hills Caddie Scholarship Trust, which is funded by donations from members of the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, has awarded over $1 million in the last 40 years to young golf caddies to help with their education.
"So you've really got two victims," said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. "You've got the members who gave the money freely and voluntarily — expecting, rightfully so, that it would end up helping a kid — and then the kids who don't have access to the scholarships that $700,000 would've funded. So, it's a pretty disturbing situation."
Bond for Maass was set at $700,000 cash/surety, with no 10%. It was not immediately clear whether Maass has been able to post bond, or if he's still in jail.
"We learned on the day he was being arraigned on the charges that a friend came in with almost $50,000 in cash hoping to bond him out...and they had planned to go to the Super Bowl," Bouchard said. "So, you know, right from court to, again, a lavish lifestyle that was being supported on the backs of kids' futures."
Maass will be back in court for a Preliminary Exam set for Feb. 10.
