H EADLINES
Fraud Continued from Page 1
as personal piggy banks for
those entrusted with managing
their funds,” Acting U.S.

Attorney Jennifer Arbittier
Williams said in a statement.

Lutts, who was indicted
by a grand jury on April 15,
faces up to 480 years in jail,
up to $6 million in fi nes, up
to three years of supervised
release and a $2,400 special
assessment, according to the
U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce. Her real
and personal property also is
subject to forfeiture.

As of May 24, she was in
custody awaiting a deten-
tion hearing, said Jennifer
Crandall, a spokesperson for
the U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce. A
public defender was appointed
to represent Lutts.

“The usual reward of
nonprofi t work is personal
fulfillment, not
finan- cial enrichment,” Michael
J. Driscoll, Special Agent
in Charge of the FBI’s
Philadelphia Division, said in
a statement. “Lutts, however,
allegedly treated these organi-
zations like her very own ATM,
shortchanging their eff orts and
the community in the process.

Th e FBI will pursue and hold
accountable anyone foolish
enough to engage in this kind
of fraud.”
Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia Chief Operating
Offi cer Steven Rosenberg said
“while we learned an unfortu-
nate lesson, it’s clearly a case
of good triumphing over evil.”
“We not only got the
majority of the money back
[through insurance], we chased
the person down,” Rosenberg
said. “Th e paper is stable now,
which is a win considering the
print-journalism market. We
still know the Jewish Exponent
is the prominent voice of
the Jewish community in
Philadelphia.” Rosenberg said Lutts, who
was an Exponent employee for
18 years, was fi red for poor
performance before the fraud
was discovered. According
to Rosenberg, Mike Costello,
Lutts’ replacement, found a
fabricated bank statement in
Lutts’ desk drawer on his fi rst
day on the job.

Th e Exponent and Jewish
Federation consulted first
with Frank Riehl, the latter’s
director of security, and
then the Philadelphia Police
Department. “As we recognized this was
beyond the police department’s
scope, we immediately called
in the FBI,” Rosenberg said,
adding that outside counsel
and other assistance was
brought in, while the insurance
carrier was notifi ed.

According to the 12-page
indictment, starting in 2016
Lutts used both her personal
and corporate American
Express cards for a wide
variety of personal expenses,
including rideshare services;
airline tickets; entertainment,
travel and lodging; health care
and exercise services; utilities;
education and career services;
legal services; funeral and
burial services; clothing; food
and alcohol; and other items
from retail stores, grocery
stores, convenience stores,
websites, restaurants and
The fi rst page of the indictment against former Jewish Exponent Director
of Business Operations Cheryl Lutts
delivery services.

Lutts also allegedly used
her personal credit cards and
her corporate credit and debit
cards to transfer company using PayPal and CashApp, conceal the fraud.

money to various individuals, among other methods.

“For example, she provided
Lutts prepared
and the Jewish Exponent’s manage-
submitted fi nancial reports to ment with fi nancial statements
a variety of people including that did not include a balance
both an outside audit and tax sheet or included a balance
sheet that was later determined
preparation fi rm.

“It was a very sophisti- not to match the account
cated operation,” Rosenberg balances and/or the transaction
ELDER LAW
said. “Nobody could have seen refl ected ... She also provided
AND this. Her level of deceit was the Jewish Exponent’s manage-
ESTATE PLANNING remarkable.”
ment with bank reconciliation
“We used every resource statements that did not refl ect
Wills Trusts
we had to determine the depth the true balances.”
Th e Exponent and Jewish
of the fraud,” he continued,
Powers of Attorney
adding “we will not tolerate this Federation have since installed
Living Wills
type of behavior ever, regardless new programs and procedures,
Probate Estates
of the amount stolen from us.” while eliminating company
Protect assets from
In all, the payments from credit cards, Rosenberg said.

nursing home
“Our financial control
the Exponent’s checking
document is very, very rigid,”
account to
her personal
Amex LARRY SCOTT AUERBACH, ESQ.

cards were $982,781. She he said. “Money does not get
CERTIFIED ELDER LAW ATTORNEY
CPA-PFS, J.D., LL.M.,MBA
also allegedly signed checks moved without at least three
1000 Easton Road
for $205,977 to Amex drawn people’s approval.” ●
Abington, PA 19001
on the Exponent’s checking
account to pay the Exponent’s agotlieb@jewishexponent.com;
For consultation call
215-517-5566 or
credit cards.

215-832-0797 |
1-877-987-8788 Toll Free
Th e indictment said that gkahn@jewishexponent.com;
Website: www.Lsauerbach.com
Lutts took several actions to 215-832-0747
LEGAL DIRECTORY
www.jewishexponent.com 14
MAY 27, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM