Former VC employee sentenced to 12 years

On Thursday, Jan. 12, a Duchess County Court sentenced former Vassar construction manager Arthur Fisher to four to 12 years in a state prison for embezzling more than $2 million from the College. Later that week, Fisher was sentenced to five years in prison by a Westchester County judge for owning illegal weapons that were found at his home in Ossining, N.Y. last April, when he was arrested for the larceny charge. He will serve the two sentences concurrently. Judge Peter M. Forman, who sentenced Fisher in Dutchess County, also ruled that his wife, Jennifer Fisher, would serve six months in jail followed by five months of probation for helping her husband steal from the school.

As the result of a civil case the College brought against the Fishers at the time of their arrest, the couple will need to repay the sum of the embezzled funds. They will be responsible for returning the money to the College and its insurance carrier, which absorbed the majority of the losses from theft, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported.

The sentencing marks the culmination of a successful cooperative relationship between college administrators and local authorities, namely the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office and the Town of Poughkeepsie Police. Fisher first aroused suspicion among college officials who were conducting a review of one of his construction projects. When they examined one supposedly finished building project, they noticed serious discrepancies between what the College had paid Fisher to do, manage and oversee the funds Vassar had allocated in its capital budget to pay construction companies to work, and what he had actually accomplished. In an interview conducted shortly after the Fishers' arrest, Jeff Kosmacher, director of Media Relations and Public Affairs, told The Miscellany News, "What had been spent did not jibe with what the College expected to find." After further investigation into Fisher's past work on campus, the College contacted police about the possibility of illegal activity.

Kosmacher, whom college administrators authorized to speak to the media about the Fisher case, expressed his appreciation for the subsequent efforts of local law enforcement officials. "They were very responsive from the moment we brought them initial evidence of the theft," he wrote in an emailed statement. "Once they concurred that there was a case to pursue, we provided all the documentation from college records they needed as promptly as possible." Eventually, Fisher and his wife were charged with inventing false construction companies, using his influence as a construction manager to direct Vassar funds to those companies, and then taking the College's funds for personal use. Fisher's intimate involvement in Vassar's construction bidding system allowed him to steal for years without attracting any scrutiny. At the time of the arrests last year, Kosmacher told the Miscellany, "Contractors must be prequalified for work even before projects are put out to bid. Evidence suggests that this project manager found a way to circumvent the pre-qualification process."

While news of the Fishers' arrest caused a stir on campus last April, few students have followed the case closely since the end of the last school year. President Catharine Bond Hill issued an email informing the Vassar community of the details of the incident shortly after the culprits were apprehended, but college administrators have not disseminated information regarding the judge's ultimate decision in the case. Both Fishers admitted guilt to police after being arrested and the following court procedures, including the recent sentencing, have been predictable.

In addition, the missing funds, while clearly substantial, have done little to alter the College's general financial security because of its relatively large endowment and the aid of its insurance provider. "The cumulative amount of the theft was obviously significant," wrote Kosmacher, "but the overall financial health of the College wasn't thrown off." He also stressed that Fisher had committed several small thefts over a number of years in the College's employ. "We didn't lose the funds in one sudden chunk," he stated. "And for the same reasons that we didn't lose financial stability because of the theft, we don't regain any significant stability as we recoup the funds."

But the Fishers' theft has compelled the College to reconsider the way in which it monitors its spending on construction projects and contracts. In the email she sent following the Fishers' arrest, Hill committed the College to swiftly improve regulatory standards. "In light of this discovery, the College is evaluating its financial and operating controls, and has already taken steps to enhance their effectiveness," she wrote last April.

Kosmacher confirmed that the school has continued its attempt to improve oversight since the Fisher incident. "Financial controls were thoroughly reviewed last year and altered fairly quickly to reduce the possibility of future losses," he wrote in his statement. "It's also important to know that there are additional reviews and controls placed on all of the College's purchases, including construction contracts."