Seattle, Wash. — A 21-year-old student was charged Tuesday for stealing almost $32,000 from the University of Washington’s Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity over a three-year period, according to police.
According to University of Washington police investigators, Said Hassan Ahmed was a work-study student who had been trained to make purchases and issue refunds on the department account. Ahmed would occasionally need to refund a student for purchased course material that was no longer needed.
“He was definitely trained how to do that. That was his job, and of course he was placed in this position of trust,” said Maj. Steve Rittereiser with the University of Washington Police Department.
But police said Ahmed started refunding his own account, putting small amounts of money on his Husky Card. A Husky Card is generally used by students and staff to access buildings
nd as a debit card.
“You can just put money on it by going online,” said Aurelia Arnett, a junior. She said students can buy food and items for school at campus facilities and some off-campus businesses in the University District.
The Husky Card can also be used at the University Bookstore, where police said Ahmed would buy electronics and resell them online.
University officials said the system had previously only generated aggregate monthly reports, without identifying individual transactions. Since discovering this theft, they have switched to newer card swipes and an improved reporting system.
The search warrant described Ahmed making 98 refund transactions over a three-year period, with the largest amount at one time being $1,500. Police said the remaining amounts were significantly less.
Ahmed was arrested on Feb. 5 at the Office of Minority Affairs and bonded out of jail the next day.
Ahmed talked to KIRO 7 by phone, deferring comment to his attorney. His attorney said they would be interested in doing an interview at a later date.
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