An Arkansas man claims that he stole thousands of dollars from the charity he works for to pay off a crypto blackmail scheme, according to a report from Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Martin J. Svoboda II, a 72-year-old man from Fayetteville, has been arrested on three counts of theft. He is accused of embezzling $150,000 from the Arkansas Veterans Village, a charity supporting homeless veterans.
Svoboda, the nonprofit’s treasurer with access to its accounts, admitted to taking the funds last December. He claims that he fell victim to Bitcoin scammers who allegedly stole his identity and threatened to release digitally altered nude photographs unless he paid them in Bitcoin.
But Cindy Ford, the head of Veteran’s Village, told the police that Svoboda had been writing checks to himself for personal expenses and falsifying account figures to conceal the theft.
The recent scheme unraveled when the charity’s bank alerted Ford that one of their accounts was overdrawn by $7,000 when it should have had $63,000 to $64,000.
Svoboda faces charges with a $25,000 bond. His plea is scheduled for February 12 in the Benton County Circuit Court.
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