as Voice reported. Charities engaged in this type of work collect roughly 10 percent of the proceeds from their concessions stands. That money is supposed then end up in the charity’s bank account to further its mission.
The only problem: Rebollo and Ilarde’s charity didn’t exist. In place of volunteers, they were paying workers roughly $50 per game under the table and then splitting the rest of the proceeds between themselves, as they admitted in the plea agreements.
Jeffrey Hill, the federal prosecutor on the case, confirmed that Voice’s reporting was the genesis for the criminal investigation, which confirmed many of the details in Voice’s stories.
“It takes a lot of time to get the necessary financial records and track them down,” he said. “The wheels of justice can be slow, but they were successful in this case.”
At the time Voice exposed Chula Vista Fast Pitch, it operated more…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.