A former treasurer of the Latham Soccer Club has been charged with embezzling $120,000. Colonie Police allege William Nevins diverted club funds into his personal checking account between September 2017 and May 2022.
"Obviously, this case is it's heartbreaking because it deals with a crime involving a youth sports group. These are our children, and our priority from the beginning of this investigation was to make sure that the person responsible for committing this crime is ultimately held accountable," said Lieutenant Michael Warner, who notes the investigation began in October 2022 after the club contacted police.
“Anytime we're talking about financial crimes, these investigations are very complex. Their other crimes are much more straightforward. Investigations financial crimes, you're talking about just a lot of financial data that we have to sift through. We have the, obviously, all of the paperwork that the club provided to us, as well as our duty to follow that money where it would have gone, which requires subpoenas from financial institutions, and then sifting through the results of all of that paperwork, which could be hundreds or thousands of pages long, considering the timeframe that that we're looking at,” Warner said.
The 54-year-old Nevins was released after being arraigned Wednesday in Colonie Town Court on a felony grand larceny charge. The investigation is ongoing.
“We're going to collaborate with the Albany County District Attorney's office. We have fantastic detectives here at the Colonie police department who are going to ensure that this this case, gets seen through all the way to its final disposition,” said Warner.
D.A. Lee Kindlon’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
