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U Tx AKL Advisor takes the money
10/7/2005
Fraternity alleges fund embezzlement by adviser
Accused claims funds legitmately spent on chapter activities
By Kimberly Garza
Article Tools: Page 1 of 2
University fraternity Alpha Kappa Lambda has reported approximately $4,000 stolen by their chapter adviser, according to a report filed last month with the UT Police Department.
The UT chapter of AKL, which received its charter Tuesday, alleges that chapter co-founder Tony Perez stole the funds, which were mostly membership dues and fundraising profits. Chapter members said they plan to take their complaint to the Austin Police Department today.
The funds were supposed to be sent in June to AKL's national headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind., as part of the UT chapter's membership fee. Chapter members became aware of the missing funds when national fraternity representatives said they never received the money.
Jeremy Slivinski, executive director of the national AKL, said he contacted Perez about the missing funds. He said Perez claimed no money was going to be sent, because the AKL chapter no longer wanted to move forward with initiation, a claim chapter members say was never true.
Chapter president Jonathan Davis, a biology sophomore, said Perez lied to chapter members about where the money went.
"I straight-up asked him: Did you send our money to the nationals? And he said yes," Davis said. "Everything was really suspicious."
Slivinski said Davis contacted the Indiana office, wondering why the UT chapter hadn't heard anything from the national fraternity about their money.
"At that point in time we realized [Perez] had withheld the money," Slivinski said.
Perez, 25, said Wednesday that the report against him is "unfair," claiming that he did not steal the fraternity's money. Instead, he said he spent it on the members during a summer trip to El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
"All of the money that we raised was pretty much spent on them," Perez said. "It all went back toward them, for entertainment and stuff for our road trip. Now they're asking me where's the money, and I guess they forgot what they did in Juárez."
He said whenever members went out to eat or to a club, he used the fraternity's funds to pay expenses.
"I ended up having to pay, and I used the money," Perez said. "I used their money. Now they want me to pay it back, and I don't think that's fair."
The money was collected during the spring and summer semesters, mostly consisting of each member's $195 dues and profits from fundraising. Though chapter members reported an estimate of $4,000 missing, Perez said it was nowhere near that much.
"At most it was about $2,200 to $2,300," Perez said, claiming that the total was lower because not all members had paid their required dues. The chapter has 20 active members.
Many details surrounding Perez's role with the fraternity remain unclear. The police report names Perez as Tony Perez De Wetter, a name that members say he used with them, and lists his alias as Tony Perez. Perez refused to comment on the name De Wetter and also refused to comment on his status as a UT-Austin graduate student. AKL members say Perez claimed to be a UT-Austin graduate student, but there is no record of Perez in the UT Office of the Registrar.
Chapter members say they will move forward with charges against Perez.
"We'll go as far with it as we can," said Mikel Hynes, an advertising junior and member of the UT chapter. "We're looking at civil and criminal court."
According to Slivinski, AKL headquarters is also taking steps to expel Perez, an alumnus of the UT-El Paso chapter.
"He'll no longer have any status with this fraternity," Slivinski said. "This guy was acting on behalf of the organization when he really had no right to do so."
Perez said he is willing to do what it takes to clear his name.
"If we have to go to court, I will go to court," he said. "In the long run, I want to work everything out."
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