Two female Harvard Law School administrators resigned after it was discovered they had been skimming money from a fund meant to help disabled students and buying MacBooks, iPads, iPods, DVDs, jewelry, and sex toys. They even sent some of the items to friends in other states. In all, the ladies stole nearly $110,000, according to CBS Boston.
Meg DeMarco, 33, and Darris Saylors, 32, had quite a racket going and were hiding the purchases in plain sight by changing the descriptions to mundane things like “textbooks for disabilities accommodations.” But when a new budget manager began noticing discrepancies in the accounts, an investigation began. As it turns out, DeMarco was taking the money from the disabled student fund and depositing it to her personal account through a mobile card reader. Saylors spent most of her time on Amazon buying up goods and used the Dean of Students credit card to buy sex toys.
This all went down in late 2013 but DeMarco and Saylors are set to begin their first hearing.
Second-year student, Kristina Vu, who is blind, responded in shock, saying, “It’s horrifying. Knowing that someone is out there taking away those crucial resources from the vulnerable student population that needs it to succeed is honestly very appalling to me.”
Vu also blames the school for being clueless as this much money slipped through the cracks: “What procedural safeguards were they lacking that allowed something like this to happen?”
A spokesperson for Harvard responded: “As a result of this matter, the Law School implemented additional layers of controls governing the use of its credit accounts and purchasing protocols.”
Saylors has since moved out of state, but an investigative team at CBS Boston caught up with DeMarco who, amazingly, now works at Babson College.
“It was a big job and I made mistakes,” DeMarco said. “I never intended to harm the university. I’m very sorry and will do everything in my power to rectify the situation.”
Harvard’s College Disability Alliance said these funds are crucial for students with disabilities and hopes this is a “wake-up call” for Harvard to pay better attention.
Watch the local news report below: