The Sports and Exhibition Authority announced Monday that it terminated controller Sharon Mink, after discovering that she allegedly made an unauthorized wire transfer of $21,350 in April 2018.
The SEA had placed Mink on leave in July, after the Allegheny County District Attorney's office filed criminal charges against Mink for misappropriating $319,819 from her previous employer, commercial insurance firm Research Underwriters.
According to the district attorney’s office, Mink allegedly used the money from Research Underwriters "for her own personal benefit," spending the funds on designer labels, cruise lines, airfare and resort stays.
Mink’s duties at the SEA, which is a joint city-county authority that owns and finances Heinz Field, PNC Park, PPG Paints Arena and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, included producing financial reports, managing accounts payable and receivable, and developing budgets and financial controls.
The SEA says they installed a new software system in January to protect them from fraudulent activity. No other suspicious activity was identified besides the one unauthorized transaction.
