Ex-secretary in court
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Thursday, February 8, 2007
By Amy K. Stewart
and Tim Gurrister
Standard-Examiner staff
OGDEN -- Suspected embezzler Denise Aughney made her first appearance in a courtroom Wednesday as officials formalized proceedings to freeze her assets while releasing those of her husband, John.
Denise Aughney is the focus of an investigation by the Weber County Sheriff's Office into more than $900,000 in missing charitable funds from the Weber School Foundation.
The foundation's civil suit to cut her off from as many as eight bank and credit card accounts, vehicles and homes was the focus of Wednesday's brief hearing before 2nd District Judge W. Brent West.
John Aughney is to be allowed $500 immediately from his personal accounts, pending the completion of court documents allowing him access to his assets.
As the hearing closed, Denise Aughney walked over to Mark Lowther, the Weber County sheriff's detective conducting the criminal investigation into the missing funds, who was sitting in the courtroom. She seemed to just say hello, then left. Lowther declined comment.
Criminal charges could be filed against Denise Aughney within the next two days, one official close to the case said after the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity.
As she left the courtroom, Aughney was surrounded by about a dozen friends and relatives.
Immediately confronted by two newspaper photographers and two reporters, she ducked into a conference room with her husband and a few others, including Ogden lawyer Brad Smith, her husband's attorney.
She appeared in court without an attorney, but several officials have confirmed she has retained defense attorney Tony Miles as her criminal lawyer. Miles was not at Wednesday's hearing.
After roughly a half-hour's seclusion in the conference room, she emerged again but still did not answer questions.
As he left the courthouse, holding hands with Denise, John Aughney would only say, "Our professional representation has advised us not to comment."
"John knew nothing about it," Smith told reporters, claiming his client was oblivious to the extra money his wife seemed to have. Smith explained the two are both in their second marriage and have always kept separate bank accounts.
She had been receiving child support from her previous marriage until a few years ago, Smith said. "She always had extra money."
The foundation filed the civil suit against Aughney on Jan. 25.
The criminal investigation, which is continuing, began after Weber School District officials in November discovered discrepancies in the foundation's financial records.
Bryan Benard, the foundation's attorney and a board member, and Smith both said the civil case, essentially a debt collection action, will now move into a discovery and investigation phase that could go on for months, even a year or more without any court appearances.
"Freezing the assets is just a mechanism to try and maintain the status quo while we investigate what has happened ... to figure out exactly where the money has gone and who may have liability," Benard said.
Benard said it isn't known yet where the $900,000 is, while Smith said the current figure under investigation is actually $979,000.
Aughney, while the foundation's secretary, is suspected of forging signatures on checks, putting duplicate entries in the foundation's check ledger and putting money into her personal account.
Aughney has admitted to Weber district officials she stole foundation funds, according to filings in the civil suit.
Aughney was employed with Weber district for 11 years. She was put on administrative leave Dec. 14. She was working 30 hours a week at $14.94 per hour until she was fired Dec. 20.
The foundation is the nonprofit fundraising arm of Weber district. It raises money to enhance the educational experience of students.
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