Citrus Heights Rotary Club struggles to recover $20k in bank fraud case

By Sara Beth Williams–
The Citrus Heights Rotary Club suffered a loss of $20,000 after the funds were reportedly withdrawn fraudulently from their bank account at the end of December.

Susan Powers, treasurer with the Citrus Heights Rotary Club, told The Sentinel in an interview that the club’s bank account was compromised twice, once in November 2024 and again the following month. The first instance of fraud occurred around Thanksgiving when someone accessed the club’s account and conducted electronic Automatic Clearing House (ACH) transactions totaling $11,000.

The bank issued a refund within a few days following a fraud claim submitted by the Rotary Club. Afterward, Powers, Bob Churchill, and Mark Duncan, both past presidents with the Rotary Club, said they met at the US Bank branch in Citrus Heights at the beginning of December. During the meeting, the club members closed the compromised account, and opened a new account with only three authorized signers.

“We were at the bank for two hours, auditing the account and who had access, signing papers, removing everyone else,” Powers said. Duncan also confirmed in an interview that he and Churchill were the only other individuals listed on the new account.

Powers, who also owns Powers Bookkeeping Service, was the only one authorized to grant online banking access to the other two signers. After a bout of illness, Powers returned to work in the New Year and discovered that $20,000 had been electronically withdrawn from the new bank account without the club’s knowledge or authorization.

It was reported that the online login used in this case to access the newly-opened Rotary Club bank account belonged to another Rotary member. However, Powers and Duncan stated in interviews that it has been determined that the member did not commit the fraud and both noted that the login credentials used were supposed to have been eliminated by US Bank.

“When this happened, we were under the impression that no one had online access at all. This was a big surprise,” Powers said.

The Rotary Club filed a fraud claim again, but unlike in November, US Bank denied the claim and declined to refund the $20,000. Powers said the club only learned about the rejected claim a week later through an official letter in the mail. According to Powers and Duncan, US Bank reportedly claims the Rotary Club was at fault for the $20,000 withdrawal.

“They’re trying to say that it is a difference between a business log in and a personal log in,” Powers said, adding that the withdrawal was made through a business log in while hers was a personal log in. “How is that even possible?”

In February, an assistant manager at US Bank’s Citrus Heights branch told The Sentinel he was not authorized to discuss the matter of a private account. The manager was reportedly out on maternity leave. A customer service representative of US Bank corporate told The Sentinel that account information could only be provided if the account holder was present to grant permission for media personnel to speak with the bank.

During a Citrus Heights Rotary Club board meeting on Feb. 27, Powers said the board discussed what steps to take next regarding the loss of $20,000, and opted to look into forwarding the case to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On March 4, Evan Lapiska, Vice President of Public Affairs and Communication with US Bank, told The Sentinel via email he was “unable to comment on a specific client’s accounts or transactions” but offered to have his small business team “look into the matter.”

In a follow-up communication with Lapiska several days later, The Sentinel was informed that no account associated with the Citrus Heights Rotary Club or its treasurer could be located. No further comment was provided regarding any potential further investigation by US Bank.

Powers and Duncan both confirmed the newly opened bank account affected by fraud was frozen but remained open while the Rotary Club continued fundraising for their annual Crab Feed event. Duncan said most of the money has been withdrawn, and the account wasn’t closed because the club was still hopeful of receiving a reimbursement through the fraud claims process.

Powers said the Citrus Heights Rotary Club has since opened another account with a new bank where they plan to conduct Rotary business moving forward. She also confirmed that the club filed a report with the Citrus Heights Police Department and plans to retain legal counsel.