Brink in the clink

Russ Brink, who served as executive director of the Rockingham Area Land Trust in Springfield from 2008 to 2009, was arrested in Eugene, Oregon, on charges of embezzling more than $10,000 from his former employer, Downtown Eugene, Inc, over a five-year period.

http://compasspaper.com/brink-in-the-clink-p2605-143.htm

Brink in the Clink

Former RACLT Director Arrested in Oregon

By Gary Band
For the Compass

Russ Brink, who served as executive director of the Rockingham Area Land Trust in Springfield from 2008 to 2009, was arrested in Eugene, Oregon, on charges of embezzling more than $10,000 from his former employer, Downtown Eugene, Inc, over a five-year period.
Arraigned on Jan. 19, he pled not guilty to racketeering, first-degree theft, fraudulent use of a credit card and unlawful use of computer. Held on $185,000 bail, he filed a court document stating he did not have money to hire a lawyer, and will be represented by a public defender when he faces a pretrial hearing on Feb. 23.
According to the Eugene-based newspaper The Register-Guard, allegations first surfaced after Brink, 54, left the DEI job in July 2008 and moved to Vermont. The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, which had taken over management of DEI, noticed discrepancies in the group’s financial records.
An auditing firm reviewed DEI books and found that Brink “misappropriated” $54,283 from the group in a 12-month period, between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008.
The Chamber filed a theft report with the Eugene Police Department in early 2009, triggering the criminal investigation.
At that time, Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce President Dave Hauser said the largest single share of the misspent money — $22,000 — came from 22 credit card payments spread among eight different credit cards.
Some of the credit cards were in Brink’s name, Hauser said. Other payments were made on cards that in¬appropriately listed DEI as the cardholder along with Brink, he said.
Brink also made 80 cash withdrawals totaling about $10,000 from a DEI debit card, he said. There were no documents to show what the money paid for, Hauser said.
An additional $15,000 was spent on things that could not be classified as DEI-related business expenses, he said.
The indictment was filed Jan. 5 by the Lane County District Attorney after a Lane County grand jury last summer investigated allegations that Brink used funds from the downtown property owners’ and business group for personal purposes.
The indictment did not specify how much Brink is alleged to have stolen from DEI, but the felony theft charge said Brink stole more than $10,000 between July 1, 2003, and July 31, 2008.
The racketeering charge was based on two or more of Brink’s alleged activities between 2006 and mid-2008. And between 2007 and mid-2008, Brink is alleged to have used a DEI credit card for unauthorized purposes, and a computer to devise or execute a scheme to defraud, the charges said.