After Chesterfield's alleged fraud, could it happen elsewhere?

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November 3, 2009

By Dave Stafford, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer The Herald Bulletin Tue Nov 03, 2009, 11:20 PM EST

ANDERSON — Those in charge of keeping the books for nearby towns expressed alarm Monday at the misappropriation of funds in Chesterfield. They said they believed procedures in their towns safeguarded against such problems.

Five former Chesterfield town employees — Clerk-Treasurer Chris Parrish, Town Marshal Jamie Kimm, part-time police officer Joseph Brown, water department and maintenance employees Chris Walters and James Walters — allegedly defrauded the town of $259,626, according to a State Board of Accounts audit released last week.

“This is embarrassing,” Lapel Clerk-Treasurer Tom Tudor said. “People just roll their eyes like that’s standard procedure, someone ripping someone off. It’s sad.

“I’m just glad they got caught.”

Town clerk-treasurers are the elected officials charged by law with responsibility for town funds. Tudor has held that position in Lapel for almost 17 years. He said every check written on the town’s books is presented to the town council for approval.

That didn’t happen in Chesterfield, where Parrish allegedly did not enter “manual” checks in the town computer system, according to the audit. That system generated the claims submitted to the town council for approval, so council members never approved the money that was misappropriated.

Tudor said Lapel has a process by which he and an accounts payable clerk review claims before they are submitted to the town council for approval. “We’re just a small town, but the police chief reviews the claims ... the utility supervisor reviews the claims and normally through all those hoops we can catch something that is not right.”

Frankton Clerk-Treasurer Katherine Hudson is in her 22nd year keeping the town’s books, and she said oversight is a key there, too.

“The auditors seem to think it’s a pretty good system,” Hudson said. “They’ve not had a problem with it.”

In Frankton, Councilwoman Lisa Corey reviews claims and checks. A computerized system creates a register with all checks in sequential order, which is presented to the town council for approval.

“I would think it would be awfully hard to get away with it,” Corey said. She said she it would take collusion between two or more people intent on defrauding the town.

“You might get away with it for a while, but once things are audited and checked into, someone is going to get caught,” she said. “That’s why it’s important these audits take place.”

Seven-year Ingalls Clerk-Treasurer Kip Golden said he and town administrator Bill Rhodes review all town expenditures, and that every check written from town funds is approved by the council.

But it hasn’t always been so. In the early 1980s, audits found missing town money.

“They took care of it at that time and put other people in place and it went from that point,” Golden said.

Golden said he was surprised at the fraud alleged in Chesterfield. “I know how the State Board of Accounts looks at things,” he said.

Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com

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