From: "Amherst Youth Soccer (Amherst, MA)" Subject: AYSA: Request for assistance with criminal investigation - Amherst

Youth Soccer (Amherst, MA) Date: March 3, 2014 at 7:58:35 PM EST

Dear Amherst soccer community, During an internal review of our finances last year, it came to the attention of the AYSA Board of Directors that the dollar amount in our treasury was significantly lower than we should have had based on our enrollment records. Upon initiating an investigation of our own, we learned that a past AYSA employee may have been soliciting and accepting monies from parents without the knowledge or consent of the Association, and not depositing those funds into our treasury. This activity has been reported to the Amherst Police and an investigation is currently underway. All AYSA registrations (Travel and Rec) should be completed by paying with a credit card on our on-line registration system, or, in special cases, by sending a check payable to AYSA to an officer of the Association. No one should ever request that you pay for Travel or Rec soccer with cash, or that you pay by check made out to an individual AYSA employee or Board member. If in the past three or four years you were advised by a present or past AYSA employee or Board member to pay a specific individual for a spring or fall registration, and you paid with either cash or personal check made out to an individual, then you may have fallen prey to this scam. The scam typically occurred when a prospective player missed the online enrollment period and asked to register late. The family was then contacted by a member or employee of the Association and payment by cash or check was requested after the parents were assured that the player was or would be enrolled. If you believe that you may have been affected by this scam, please contact the Amherst Police detective who is investigating the case.

His contact information is at the bottom of this message. The Amherst Police are looking to recover any documentation related to this investigation which includes, but is not limited to: cancelled/copies of checks, e-mail threads, or any other types of communications that can be recovered. If you did pay a specific person in cash but do not have documentation, the police would still be interested in speaking with you about the case. If you are unsure of whether or not you were affected, please contact the police anyway and they can assist you. We would very much appreciate your help, which will allow us to recover as much of the lost funds as possible and help keep the program affordable. THIS IS A TIME SENSITIVE ISSUE so please respond/contact the police as soon as possible. Please note that our Winter and Summer Camp registrations have been handled differently, and many parents did pay for these camps with cash or checks. You do not need to notify the police if you paid a camp fee with cash or check. However, if your son or daughter attended an AYSA camp in 2013, we would appreciate if you could send us their name (send to bailin.paul@gmail.com) so that we can compile a full list of last years camp attendees. Thank you very much for your assistance with this matter. Because there is an ongoing criminal investigation, we have been advised that AYSA cannot provide any additional information at this time. Sincerely, Paul Bailin and Meg Rosa AYSA Co-Presidents CONTACT: Detective Richard MacLean (413) 259-3128

macleanr@amherstma.gov