Money Missing From Rumson-Fair Haven Touchdown Club

RUMSON, NJ — An undisclosed amount of money is missing from the Rumson-Fair Haven Touchdown Club, Patch has learned.

The longstanding Touchdown Club is a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit formed by a group of parents to support the football program at Rumson-Fair Haven High School, as well as youth football programs in Rumson and Fair Haven, two of New Jersey's wealthiest towns.

The revelation about the missing money was announced Friday night, Aug. 3 when the club sent out a mass email to members, and posted a notice about it on their website. The notice has since been taken down as of Tuesday morning.

The email said there was an "unauthorized use of funds," but one parent who is a member of the club told Patch money is indeed missing.

"Recently, the Board of Trustees of the RFH Touchdown Club, Inc. (the “Club”) was alerted to certain unauthorized use of the Club’s funds," organizers wrote in a mass email sent out Monday, a copy of which Patch obtained. "In response, the Club, together with its financial institution, took immediate protective action to prevent any further unauthorized activity. In addition, the Club is having its financial accounts reviewed by a qualified independent professional and is confident that it has identified the full scope of the unauthorized activity. The Board has also acted to install James Shaud as its new interim President effective August 1, 2018 and going forward, the Club will establish an Audit Committee to continually monitor the Club’s finances to further enhance its financial safeguards."

One of the Touchdown Club's trustees, Mike Bruno, declined to answer any questions when contacted by Patch Monday. He also declined to say how much money is missing. Patch also asked the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office if they are investigating, but a spokesman said this was the first he'd heard of it.

Photo: Shutterstock/David Lee