Intelligent Fools

Is there any president of any Parent-Teacher organization that hasn't, at one time or another, embezzled thousands of dollars from that organization? I'm beginning to wonder. Just yesterday, there was another story about some PTA president in some school, somewhere, who'd done it.
What I can't understand is how someone so smart can be so stupid. I'd think you'd have to have a degree of intelligence to figure out how to steal so much money and get by with it. If I were in charge of money for an organization, I'm sure that if I borrowed thirty cents for a pack of gum, the FBI would be at my door before I could finish the pack.
How do these people figure out how to embezzle tens of thousands of dollars and not get caught? How do you tell the other parents, "You know how we thought we had made $5,000 on the pie sale? Well, actually, we lost $20,000"? Evidently they are able to convince the people they have to answer to, at least for a period of time.
So, these embezzelers must be intelligent, and yet, they have to know that eventually they'll be caught, so they're also pretty stupid. I just can't figure it out.
Of course, I want to make it clear, before anyone starts investigating me, lack of ability to pull it off is not the main reason I don't embezzle. Somehow, call me old fashioned, it just seems like the wrong thing to do. To my knowledge, I've never stolen anything in my life, not even a pack of gum (you can tell I'm partial to gum). I have a feeling it would bother my conscience. And yet, you have what one would expect to be fairly normal moms and dads, getting a position of responsibility in the PTA and then start stealing the money.
Where did it begin? I can't imagine they decided to have kids with the thought that when those kids start school, they can start stealing money. I can't even imagine they plan to do it when they get involved in the PTA. My guess is that they start out with a sincere desire to be involved in their children's lives, even to make a difference. But, somewhere along the way, the idea hits them. As I say, I just can't figure out how that happens. If it were a one-time thing, that's understandable, but it's a story one reads over and over again.
Of course, it's not just PTA. We regularly hear of little league treasurers, church officials, and others who are given a trust, helping themselves to the till. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, fraud and abuse costs U.S. organizations more than $400 billion annually. That's unbelievable. It also adds up to over 1.3 trillion packs of Juicy Fruit. And, when you look at it that way, I guess I can kinda understand it.