Former Currier Treasurer Faces Larceny Charge

Natalie J. Szekeres '97 will be arraigned in Middlesex District Court next month for allegedly embezzling $7,550 from the Currier House Committee over a six-month period in 1995.

Szekeres, who served as treasurer of the house committee during that period, wrote checks to herself from the committee account and cashed them at various banks, court records charge.

Szekeres is not enrolled at Harvard this year and was not present at a magistrate's hearing last Tuesday where initial evidence was presented. Her arraignment is scheduled for March 8.

Currier residents received a letter on Sunday night informing them that $12,000 had been discovered missing from the house committee's accounts. The letter did not specify who was being charged with the crime.

Zachary T. Buchwald '96, president of the house committee from February 1995 to February 1996, said last night that he discovered the money missing from the Currier accounts in September.

Buchwald said that he had not previously noticed any financial discrepancies in the Currier accounts.

"We had constant expenses over last spring and especially this summer, and we were never in a state of financial distress," said Buchwald, who has also served as the committee's treasurer. "It wasn't until the house committee went dangerously low in our checking account that it came to light."

Without explicitly naming Szekeres, Buchwald said he was "very surprised at the person who was clearly the only suspect.

"It came as a real surprise and a real shock," he said.

Numerous phone calls to Szekeres, who is presently living in Landover, Maryland, were not returned over the last two days.

Szekeres' mother said last night that she did not know any other details about the case.

Szekeres' mother, who refused to give her first name, said that she and her daughter have not been on speaking terms for some time.

"Somebody called me anonymously and told me that something was going on," said Szekeres' mother in a telephone interview from her home in Holmden, New Jersey. "Natalie has not spoken to me, and the school has told me they can't discuss it with me."

Szekeres' mother said she does not even know why Szekeres is taking the year off.

"I can't hypothesize on stuff that I have no information on," she said. "I think you better ask her those questions."

Szekeres' former roommates in Currier House refused to comment, as did several past and current members of the house committee.

John D. Stubbs '80, the Currier House senior tutor, was unavailable for comment. William A. Graham, the house master, said he could not comment because the case is pending in court.

Members of the house committee also said they are prohibited from discussing the case.

But house committee members did confirm that the organization has overhauled its spending policies since it became apparent that the funds were missing.

According to John C. Mitchell '96, a former officer of the committee and a Crimson editor, the treasurer must submit a record of expenditures and income to the secretary and president every month. The president and treasurer are co-signers on the checking account, and they must both sign checks over $250.

In addition, the account will now be audited annually by the University.

History

The Szekeres case is just the latest in a recent rash of student embezzlement allegations.

Szekeres' thefts allegedly began less than two months after Charles K. Lee '93 pleaded guilty to stealing almost $120,000 from Eliot House's An Evening With Champions.

David G. Sword '93 also confessed to stealing about $7,000 from the benefit in February 1995.

Lee and Sword served as co-chair and treasurer, respectively, of the ice skating benefit.

The Krokodiloes a cappella group and the Harvard Yearbook have also been targets of alleged student embezzlement over the last two years

Szekeres' former roommates in Currier House refused to comment, as did several past and current members of the house committee.

John D. Stubbs '80, the Currier House senior tutor, was unavailable for comment. William A. Graham, the house master, said he could not comment because the case is pending in court.

Members of the house committee also said they are prohibited from discussing the case.

But house committee members did confirm that the organization has overhauled its spending policies since it became apparent that the funds were missing.

According to John C. Mitchell '96, a former officer of the committee and a Crimson editor, the treasurer must submit a record of expenditures and income to the secretary and president every month. The president and treasurer are co-signers on the checking account, and they must both sign checks over $250.

In addition, the account will now be audited annually by the University.

History

The Szekeres case is just the latest in a recent rash of student embezzlement allegations.

Szekeres' thefts allegedly began less than two months after Charles K. Lee '93 pleaded guilty to stealing almost $120,000 from Eliot House's An Evening With Champions.

David G. Sword '93 also confessed to stealing about $7,000 from the benefit in February 1995.

Lee and Sword served as co-chair and treasurer, respectively, of the ice skating benefit.

The Krokodiloes a cappella group and the Harvard Yearbook have also been targets of alleged student embezzlement over the last two years