Former Kirkland Resident Indicted for Allegedly Embezzling From Charity

A former Kirkland resident, 49-year-old Randall Morrison, was indicted on wire fraud charges Thursday for allegedly embezzling more than $112,000 from the charity Ronald McDonald House.

Morrison, now of Tallahassee, Fla., is the former treasurer of Ronald McDonald House Holiday Cruise, a charitable non-profit based in Kirkland, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington.

Between 2006 and 2009, the indictment alleges, Morrison embezzled more than $112,000 from the charity, which solicits volunteers and donations for Ronald McDonald House and organizes activities, gatherings, and events for medically fragile children and their families.

Morrison, on pretrial release in Florida since July, was named in a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. attorney in June. One of the conditions of his release is that he attend a treatment program for problem gamblers.  

He is scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Sept. 1. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to the indictment, Morrison was hired as treasurer of the charity in 2005, and in August of 2006 moved to Ohio while remaining as the treasurer and reporting to the non-profit’s board by email and telephone. Beginning in September of 2006, the indictment alleges, Morrison began writing checks and wiring funds from the charity’s accounts for what appeared to be legitimate charity business. But according to authorities, Morrison was actually diverting the money for his own personal use and falsifying the reports.

Ronald McDonald House officials were apparently alerted to the alleged theft in early 2009, when Morrison’s employer in Ohio contacted the charity because of suspected embezzlement at that company. Morrison was fired by that employer and Ronald McDonald House in early 2009.

According to its web site, Ronald McDonald House Holiday Cruise is a non-profit organization originally founded in 1982 to provide gifts and a Christmas Eve cruise for families residing at Seattle’s Ronald McDonald House. The group "is largely made up of volunteers from the Seattle, Medina, and Kirkland Police Departments, Microsoft employees and family members, and other dedicated individuals within the community."

According to the press release, the case is being investigated by the Kirkland Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force.