[MSN] Insider theft. Guggenheim Bilbao sacks thieving finance director

[MSN]

Guggenheim Bilbao sacks thieving FD	 	 
Written by Adrie van der Luijt	   
Wednesday, 16 April 2008

The Guggenheim Bilbao has dismissed its finance director Roberto Cearsolo Barrenetxea for “financial and accounting irregularities”.
The popular modern art museum said in a statement that the problems came to light at the beginning of April during an internal audit.

The Guggenheim launched a formal complaint against Cearsolo, who had been with the museum since 1997.

It has also called in external auditors to conduct a full investigation into unauthorised bank transfers into the finance director's private accounts going back to 2005.

The museum said during a press conference that it had started an internal investigation into Barrenetxea's activities after it was tipped off by a regional financial tribunal.

Three days after the museum alerted its solicitors, it received a letter from solicitors acting for Cearsolo in which he admitted defrauding various companies run by the museum since 1998.

These include the museum’s holding company, dedicated to the acquisition and management of the Guggenheim’s own art collection, and one responsible for the Guggenheim’s property.

Showing his true colours as a bean-counter, he added that the total sum he had stolen amounted to €486,979.38.

He also set out in detail how he had covered up his activities by altering accounts and bank statements and forging signatures in order to avoid detection by the museum’s auditors.

As most of the companies involved were merely financial structures and did not have their own financial staff, Cearsolo was responsible for their financial management and control.

The museum said that sums involved were relatively marginal on the scale of its activities and had stayed under the radar as far as annual audits were concerned.

Cearsolo enclosed a cheque for €251,000 as a part refund. Four days later he delivered a further payment of €36,000 and gave a commitment to return the remaining money within three months.

The Guggenheim's striking architecture, designed by Frank Gehry, is credited with making the Northern Spanish town one of the European centres of culture.