Being the president for any organization can be a daunting task, and for the University’s 1973 Student Government Council president, this task was made even more daunting when he was charged with embezzlement.
Lee Gill’s rival candidates pointed fingers when $8,500 from the SGC account was transferred to another account in Detroit under Gill’s name. The word embezzlement was thrown around, but solid evidence could not be found, according to an Oct. 16, 1973 article in The Michigan Daily.
The $8,500 was withdrawn by Gill from the Huron Valley Bank in the form of a cashier’s check, and the transfer was made to provide easier access to the money, he claimed. It also kept the money away from University officials.
Once in the Detroit bank, however, the money story becomes a little murky.
Gill claimed that he put the money under his name because several bank tellers told him that he lacked the proper identification to open a corporate account.
He then set up two accounts, one under his name, and another under K. Haywood, a friend who went to the bank with Gill, because Gill had only brought a student ID.
Gill asserted that he had every intention of returning the next day to properly open the account.
However, Monte Labadie, the offical of Manufacturer’s National where Gill opened the account, gave a different report. Labadie said that Gill made no mention of corporate accounts.
His suspicions were only heightened when Gill did not have appropriate identification, and the cashier’s check was made out to the bank instead of the organization from which the money came.
The bank’s Loss Prevention Department called Huron Valley Bank after receiving a call from Labadie. According to John Kennedy, the head of the department, Gill had the money taken out of the SGC account and made into a cashier’s check per his personal request.
Henry Johnson, vice president of Student Services, looked into the matter, and had no reason to suspect that there was any criminal activity going on.
In the end, Gill, David Fowler, the SGC administrative vice president, and SGC Treasurer Rosemary Mullin went into the bank the next day and removed the money, which was promptly returned to Ann Arbor.