By Howard Koplowitz
Richard Hellenbrecht, chairman of CB 13, said he did not believe the missing items were stolen from the office.He first notified the board about Dell's inquiry at CB 13's February meeting. Questions about the missing computers were again raised at the March meeting.Sally Martino-Fisher, the district manager of CB 13 when the shipment was supposedly sent back in 2006, was responsible for placing orders for office equipment. But Hellenbrecht said it would have been the job of another former board employee known as a community associate to return the packages.Martino-Fisher resigned in January amid questions over whether she lived in the city. Residence in the city is a condition of employment on a community board.”I believe [the equipment] went back” to Dell, Hellenbrecht said. “I wouldn't imagine anybody that works or worked for us would do anything like” steal the computers, he said. “I'm sure it's a clerical error of some sort.”Hellenbrecht said the items – three personal computers, three monitors and printers worth between $15,000 and $18,000 – needed to be returned because a duplicate order was placed.”I don't believe anybody intentionally made a mistake in the order,” he said.Hellenbrecht said he had not spoken to Martino-Fisher since he first learned Dell was looking into the missing computers in December.Dell's investigations department contacted Hellenbrecht in March, asking if there were any receipts that the equipment was shipped back. But Hellenbrecht said CB 13 could not find any confirmation, although the community associate said she sent the items back.Dell could not be reached for comment.Hellenbrecht said there was an e-mail with tracking numbers given to the equipment before they were shipped. But he said he could not track the packages because they would have been sent in 2006 and UPS purged their system of information going back longer than two years.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
