Thank you all for coming today.
Further to my statement yesterday, like you I am concerned about the findings in the audits.
Words cannot adequately express how shocked and sorry I am about the findings of this audits.
It is my understanding that my ex-husband travelled to Europe to further his work for the Portland Hotel Society and while he was there, he conducted research, was a presenter and attended conferences.
He brought the family along and as I stated yesterday, I was reassured by my ex-spouse that he had paid for all the family portion of the travel associated with the Society.
I trusted that he was telling me the truth.
Since reviewing the audits, I have asked the individuals involved to advise me how much of the travel cost is attributed to my family and to provide me with documentations to verify this. I spent most of my day yesterday trying to get answers and explanations about the discrepancies between what the audits found versus what I had been told about the payment of these expenses.
As of today, they are not able to provide me with this information.
Given the findings of the audits, it is clear that their accounting system is deficient and I am not at all confident that they will be able to provide me with this information.
I strongly believe that the travel expense incurred by my family should not be paid for or perceived to be paid for by the Society.
I am therefore repaying the full costs identified in the audit that either my ex-husband and/or my family is associated with.
According to the audits, these include:
$8,323.22 – travel to UK
$3,175.12 – travel to Bristol
$5,950.60 – flights
$4,142.68 – transportation
$10,636.00 – Vienna
$2,694.95 – Disney hotel upgrade
As to the Disneyland trip, this was a packaged vacation that I purchased with my own credit card prior to the trip. A copy of my personal VISA bill is available for your reference. Upon arrival at Disneyland, my ex-husband informed me that he paid for a hotel upgrade for us. However, the audit appears to indicate otherwise. I am therefore reimbursing the full cost of this item to the Society.
A personal cheque in the amount of $34,922.57 made payable to the Society was delivered to the attention of the new board at the Society earlier today.
In closing, I can’t tell you how upsetting this is to me and I am truly sorry that this has occurred.
I am going to take an unpaid leave of absence so that I can be with my children and ensure these issues are resolved.