Los Altos-based Bus Barn Stage Company has been scammed out of $9,300, according to one of the nonprofit theater’s board of directors.
“It was an Internet scam or credit card scam,” said Jean Mordo, Bus Barn treasurer and Los Altos Hills councilman. “We don’t have any details other than the fact that … somebody had hacked into our system and pretended to authorize refunds to people. … We don’t know who got it and how they did the trick.”
The money was stolen sometime in mid March, according to Mordo, but was not reported to police until Monday. Mordo said no one inside the Bus Barn organization is suspected of fraud.
Although the amount reportedly stolen is a significant chunk of Bus Barn’s $300,000 annual budget, Mordo said the theater company’s financial viability isn’t at risk. He added that Bus Barn’s annual “Los Altos Follies” fundraiser typically raises approximately $10,000.
“I guarantee we have enough money to take care of business,” he said. “It certainly hurts us, but it’s not at all threatening to the health of theater.”
Los Altos Police Captain Andy Galea said officers are investigating the alleged fraud. The department may subpoena bank records, which he said could take months.
“Until we can get all the financial documents and contact the banks, perhaps do some kind of forensic analysis on computers, it’s difficult to say what took place,” Galea said.
Mordo said Bus Barn’s business manager, Leslie Fox, discovered funds were missing. He said money from ticket sales were refunded – but not to the buyers – and Fox never authorized the returns.
