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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Ind. Gov't. - "Ex-Town of Chesterfield Employees Accused Of Siphoning Town Funds "

Here is the story from last evening's Indy 6 News:

Five former employees of the town of Chesterfield in Madison County are accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds for personal use.

The Indiana Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit Monday afternoon against former Clerk Treasurer Chris Parrish, former Town Marshal James Kimm, former part-time police officer Joseph Brown and former water department maintenance employees Chris Walters and James Walters, 6News' Rafael Sanchez reported.

A recent State Board of Accounts audit found the misuse of $259,626 from the town of Chesterfield during 2007 and 2008.

"We have this case, and a number of other cases, where it's not just a bookkeeping error, it's not something where people have made a mistake about accounting, but where people made personal benefit out of public funds they should know we're going to come after them," Attorney General Greg Zoeller told 6News.

Here is the news release from AG Zoeller's office. Some quotes:
INDIANAPOLIS – Today Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a lawsuit demanding that five former officials of the town of Chesterfield – including the former clerk-treasurer and former town marshal -- repay more than $259,000 in public funds they allegedly defrauded from the town government. The Attorney General also is seeking temporary restraining orders against the defendants to protect assets from being disposed of or sold.

The lawsuit, filed in Madison County Circuit Court, is part of a stepped-up effort by Zoeller to combat public corruption and misuse of tax dollars by elected officials and government employees.

“The claim that the town’s former top fiscal officer and the town’s former police chief hatched a scheme to defraud the taxpayers who employed them appears to be the ultimate betrayal of the public’s trust,” Zoeller said.

The case stems from an Oct. 26, 2009, certified audit by State Board of Account examiners who found that five individuals, individually or together, allegedly defrauded the town government out of a total $259,626.07 by getting paid for false mileage reimbursement claims, phony automotive-repair and building-repair claims, and for hours never worked during 2007 and 2008. * * *

"The audit claims this fraud was brazen in its audacity and proportionately large in its scope. The quarter-million-dollar fraud represents a very sizeable portion of the town’s entire operating budget. That’s why we will be moving quickly in pursuing the defendants’ assets in order to protect the taxpayers and restore to the Chesterfield town treasury what was wrongfully taken,” Zoeller said.

The State Board of Accounts audit found that Parrish and the others executed the scheme without the knowledge of the Chesterfield Town Council. Parrish issued “manual” checks the council did not see, the audit found.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 24, 2009 09:35 AM
Posted to Indiana Government