Superbowl Partying On Children's Trust Fund Fraud

They all have tiny human trust funds.

Sheriff: After thief's arrest for stealing $697,000, he planned to party at Super Bowl

Craid Maass

A scholarship fund set up by Oakland Hills Country Club to help young caddies with college expenses became too big of a temptation for the fund's president, who is accused of stealing nearly $700,000 from it, authorities say.

What's worse, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard added, when the 60-year-old Bloomfield Hills man was arrested and charged Friday with embezzling $697,000, he had a friend bring about $50,000 in cash to try to bail him out so he could celebrate at the Super Bowl in Miami.

"Obviously, it goes to a lifestyle he has obviously been subsidizing at other people's expense — mostly kids," Bouchard told the Free Press.

Moreover, the sheriff added, Craig Maass showed no remorse for his actions because after being charged, he planned to party. Instead, Bouchard said, Maass is being held in the Oakland County jail.

Magistrate Julie Nelson-Klein ordered a $700,000 cash surety bond.

Still, Bouchard said, the arrest is a sad reminder that organizations — businesses and nonprofits — must be vigilant when it comes to money because whether it is a small or big amount, thieves often steal when no one is watching.

Bouchard said Maass, the presiding officer of the Oakland Hills Caddie Scholarship Trust at the time of the embezzlement, managed to steal from the fund until "abnormalities in the accounting" were uncovered last July, adding that Maass had written checks out to himself and his contracting company, a violation of the organization's rules.

Two messages were left seeking comment at the club, Michigan's most prestigious private country club.

Maass, who does not appear to have a criminal past other than a drunken driving arrest and has been connected to the fund going back to 2012, was charged in 48th District Court on six counts of embezzlement by a fiduciary of more than $100,000, a crime punishable by up to 20 years and three times the amount of what was stolen.

The sheriff's office said in the past 40 years, the fund had awarded $1 million in scholarships.

Founded in 1916, the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township has a rich history and is known worldwide among golfers. Walter Hagen was a golf pro and honorary member of the club and Augusta National Gold Club founder Bobby Jones played at the U.S. Open held there in 1924.

The club now has two 18-hole courses and can boast it has hosted some of golf's most distinguished tournaments, including five more U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships and the Ryder Cup, a biennial men's golf competition between teams from the United States and Europe.

Bouchard said his office was tipped off to embezzlement by board members of the scholarship trust after the checks were uncovered, and what initially appeared to be accounting irregularities in IRS forms. A forensic audit later showed hundreds of thousands of dollars had been embezzled.

Maass is set to appear for a preliminary exam before Judge Kimberly Small on Monday.

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