Rain comments on SIAI Fundraising - Less Wrong

59 [deleted] 26 April 2011 08:35AM

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Comment author: cjb 27 April 2011 03:16:37AM *  21 points [-]
  • In 2009 the SIAI reported $118,802 to theft - "Misappropriation of assets, by a contractor [...]" This is a significant amount when compared to annual revenue or liquid assets. The year's surplus appears to have been eaten up by the theft. No details are provided, other than the fact that suit has been filed to seek restitution.

I'm surprised that no-one's mentioned this -- it's hard to imagine how someone can steal that much money. Can someone at SIAI tell us whether they're allowed to talk about what happened; and if you can't right now, do you have any idea when you might be able to?

Comment author: Rain 27 April 2011 04:31:19PM *  9 points [-]

Michael Vassar sent out an email with more information back in Dec 2009 (shortly after they discovered the theft?). I'm not sure if it was just to donors or also included newsletter subscribers. It basically said, 'we trusted this person and they took advantage of that trust.' It also states that since legal action is still pending, they have to "limit what [they] say", but that you can send further inquiries to Michael.

Comment author: cjb 27 April 2011 04:52:34PM 14 points [-]

Thanks. I guess the followup questions are:

  • Is the legal action still pending, or can the situation be talked about openly now?
  • Has SIAI been able to recover the money?
  • Was it a mistake to trust a contractor with access to >$100k of funds? Do they still do that?
Comment author: CarlShulman 03 May 2011 10:11:57AM *  8 points [-]

My understanding is that the case is ongoing in criminal court, at least as of a few weeks ago, and that the money has largely not yet been recovered. As far as I know, only that one contractor had the relevant financial access, which was required for the job, but obviously the financial controls on that access were not sufficient. I think that currently only the President and COO have the relevant access to the accounts (though others, including the majority-donor board, have limited access to monitor the accounts).

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