A forensic audit found that more than $1 million was mismanaged in the town of Washington, Oklahoma, according to State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd. The audit uncovered a lack of proper internal controls and oversight that enabled the misappropriation and/or unauthorized expenditure of $1,022,412 by the town clerk/treasurer, Susan Noels, and others.
Mismanagement Details
The audit found $741,405 in fraudulent expenditures, $70,607 in unauthorized payroll/benefits spending, and $210,400 in spending on an unauthorized tax resolution contract. Noel allegedly misappropriated more than $675,000 via checks, debit card purchases, digital payment platforms, and other transactions.
Some of those transactions include $267,160 paid toward Bank of America credit card accounts belonging to Noel and her spouse, $25,979 in Amazon purchases delivered to Noel and her family members, and $30,681 transferred into Noel’s personal Venmo account and used for dog-related expenditures.
The audit also found more than $70,000 in unauthorized payments or benefits to town employees and that Noel failed to remit payroll taxes to the IRS from 2012 to 2019. At least $72,000 in town revenue was misappropriated because employees failed to deposit utility cash collections.
Original reporting: Oklahoma City News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
