IPB

Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

 
Reply to this topicStart new topic
> Deputy Auditor accused of embezzling $150k
Southsider2k12
post Sep 9 2013, 02:38 PM
Post #1


Spends WAY too much time at CBTL
******

Group: Admin
Posts: 16,413
Joined: 8-December 06
From: Michigan City, IN
Member No.: 2



http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...632ef1c551.html

QUOTE
Stan Maddux Times Correspondent

LAPORTE | The Indiana Attorney General's Office is freezing the assets of a former LaPorte County official accused of stealing more than $150,000 in tax dollars.

LaPorte Circuit Court Judge Tom Alevizos granted a motion by Deputy Attorney General Kurt Hammel for a temporary restraining order on the assets of Mary Ray.

Ray was deputy LaPorte County auditor during the period the alleged thefts occurred from throughout 2012, according to the findings on file with the court from an audit by the Indiana State Board of Accounts.

John Pajakowski, a field examiner with the SBOA, said in writing more than $150,000 in LaPorte County funds were "being misappropriated, diverted or unaccounted for by Ray."

Specifically, it's alleged in the state's affidavit that Ray failed to record and/or improperly receipted checks that were in her custody then would substitute those checks for cash from the daily deposits.

The temporary restraining order freezes Ray's assets such as a house in LaPorte along with a 2012 Kia Optima, a 2007 Hyundai Tucson, a 1995 Dodge Dakota and a 2008 Kawasaki motorcycle.

Her assets were ordered frozen until the audit is completed, according to the Indiana Attorney General's Office.

The investigation of missing funds began with a report to police that a bank deposit bag the Auditor’s Office used had been stolen.

It was later recovered from a book deposit box at the library in LaPorte with the checks still inside but $3,200 in cash was missing.

As deputy auditor, Ray’s duties included collecting payments from other county departments, receiving various payments to the Auditor’s Office such as permit fees made to the county, in both cash and checks, and depositing them into the county’s bank accounts, according to the Indiana Attorney General's Office.

Ray served as the deputy for LaPorte County Auditor Craig Hinchman from 2009 to 2012 when he was defeated in a bid for a second term.

Current auditor Joie Winski said she contacted police during her first week in office after noticing some "red flags."

"I notified them immediately," said Winski.

LaPorte County Police Chief of Detectives Pat Cicero said his department started working the case later turned over to state police.

He would not offer any further specifics.

"It's an open investigation. We just can't comment on," he said.

He wasn't aware of any criminal charges being filed yet against Ray.

Ray's phone number is unlisted, and could not be reached for comment.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Tim
post Sep 10 2013, 04:33 AM
Post #2


Really Comfortable
*****

Group: Members
Posts: 1,829
Joined: 11-January 07
From: Kobe, Japan
Member No.: 18



Isn't this the second one of these stories about embezzling tens of thousands of dollars by a women in government?
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
taxthedeer
post Sep 12 2013, 11:15 AM
Post #3


Really Comfortable
*****

Group: Members
Posts: 2,005
Joined: 6-July 09
From: In Front of a computer screen
Member No.: 929



QUOTE(Tim @ Sep 10 2013, 05:33 AM) *

Isn't this the second one of these stories about embezzling tens of thousands of dollars by a women in government?

Typical La Porte County.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
ChickenCityRoller
post Sep 12 2013, 12:35 PM
Post #4


Really Comfortable
*****

Group: Members
Posts: 1,099
Joined: 11-January 07
Member No.: 19



(slap on the wrist)

Move along people, nothing to see here


http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/cops-in...ab2ed9b34e.html


Signature Bar
IPB Image
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Southsider2k12
post Sep 20 2013, 01:03 PM
Post #5


Spends WAY too much time at CBTL
******

Group: Admin
Posts: 16,413
Joined: 8-December 06
From: Michigan City, IN
Member No.: 2



http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...5e953259802.txt
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Southsider2k12
post Feb 26 2014, 10:40 AM
Post #6


Spends WAY too much time at CBTL
******

Group: Admin
Posts: 16,413
Joined: 8-December 06
From: Michigan City, IN
Member No.: 2



http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...a93f411b3c.html

QUOTE
Stan Maddux Times Correspondent

LAPORTE | The state, following an audit, is requesting payback of nearly $200,000 from LaPorte County's former chief deputy auditor.

The State Board of Accounts, in its findings filed Feb. 21, is seeking reimbursement to the county of just over $153,000 from Mary Ray.

Ray is also being ordered to pay the state nearly $46,000 to cover the cost of the audit.

In September, a judge froze a portion of Ray's assets, specifically her house and vehicles, to guarantee her the ability to pay at least a portion of her alleged debt owed to the county.

LaPorte County attorney Shaw Friedman said civil action has already been taken by the county and state requesting full reimbursement.

The county has insurance to cover the loss but there's a deductible to pay with a claim, but if Ray is ordered to pay back the funds there's no need to use the policy, said Friedman.

Any unpaid funds also could be ordered paid as part of any sentence that could result if there's a criminal case against Ray.

No decision has been made on whether to charge Ray, who was the chief deputy auditor from 2009 through 2012 under then county auditor Craig Hinchman.

LaPorte County Prosecutor Bob Szilagyi said Indiana State Police is heading up the criminal investigation and are waiting for the results of the audit before proceeding further into its probe.

Szilagyi said his office won't decide whether to bring about charges until presented with the state police findings.

The probe into Ray's alleged dealings began after a LaPorte County treasurer's bag containing cash and checks somehow wound up in a book drop box at the LaPorte County Public Library branch in LaPorte at the end of December of 2012.

The audit alleges 150 transactions where county tax dollars collected were less than what was actually deposited from Sept. 19, 2011, to Dec. 28, 2012.

Money transfers from other departments were used to cover the discrepancies in the books.

However, the shuffling in the books was not enough to fill the hole in total cash and checks collected together during the 14-month period, according to the audit.

Ray was the primary employee responsible for properly recording the transactions in the county's ledgers and all of the deposits with unaccounted for cash were made by Ray, according to the audit.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Southsider2k12
post Mar 4 2014, 10:56 AM
Post #7


Spends WAY too much time at CBTL
******

Group: Admin
Posts: 16,413
Joined: 8-December 06
From: Michigan City, IN
Member No.: 2



Charges filed

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/25966714-537/...ty-auditor.html
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Dave
post Mar 23 2014, 12:29 PM
Post #8


Really Comfortable
*****

Group: Moderator
Posts: 1,658
Joined: 26-July 07
From: Michigan City
Member No.: 482



QUOTE(Southsider2k12 @ Mar 4 2014, 11:56 AM) *


Well, those aren't criminal charges, that's just the county suing to get the money back.

One has to wonder why criminal charges haven't been filed.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Southsider2k12
post Mar 23 2014, 03:52 PM
Post #9


Spends WAY too much time at CBTL
******

Group: Admin
Posts: 16,413
Joined: 8-December 06
From: Michigan City, IN
Member No.: 2



QUOTE(Dave @ Mar 23 2014, 01:29 PM) *

Well, those aren't criminal charges, that's just the county suing to get the money back.

One has to wonder why criminal charges haven't been filed.


I wonder if there is truth to the rumors of a federal investigation.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Southsider2k12
post Sep 12 2014, 09:03 AM
Post #10


Spends WAY too much time at CBTL
******

Group: Admin
Posts: 16,413
Joined: 8-December 06
From: Michigan City, IN
Member No.: 2



Deputy Auditor Mary Ray has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for two counts of embezzlement and two counts of tax fraud.

http://www.abc57.com/home/top-stories/Form...-274794121.html
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Southsider2k12
post Sep 12 2014, 12:19 PM
Post #11


Spends WAY too much time at CBTL
******

Group: Admin
Posts: 16,413
Joined: 8-December 06
From: Michigan City, IN
Member No.: 2



http://voices.suntimes.com/news/breaking-n...heft-tax-fraud/

QUOTE

« Back to Chicago Sun-Times
home of the Sun-Times blogs

News
Early & Often
Arts & Entertainment
Sports
Opinions

By Jeff Mayes | Get In Touch: @midnightdog | jmayes@suntimes.com Breaking News, None - September 11, 2014 2:16 pm
Former LaPorte County deputy auditor indicted for theft, tax fraud
10

(SOUTH BEND, Ind.) A former deputy auditor in northwest Indiana, who stole more than $150,000 from the county for which she worked, now faces federal fraud and embezzlement charges, according to federal prosecutors.

A federal grand jury in South Bend on Wednesday indicted Mary Ray, 66, of La Porte, Ind., on two counts each of theft of government monies and making false statements on a tax return, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Indiana.

Between September 2011 and December 2012, when Ray was the deputy LaPorte County auditor, she stole the money from LaPorte County, and it included at least $5,000 in federal funds, federal prosecutors allege.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office said the indictment charges she stole “more than $5,000,” and “later events in process” show the total was over $150,000.

The indictment also claims she under-reported income on federal tax returns in 2011 and 2012 by not reporting the stolen money.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a lawsuit against Ray in March, charging she embezzled $153,002.46 from the auditor’s office between September 2011 and December 2012.

The suit followed a State Board of Accounts audit and the freezing of Ray’s assets by the state in September 2013, according to a statement from the attorney general’s office.

The suit claims that until retiring, Ray’s duties included collecting payments from other county departments plus payments such as permit fees.

But she used “schemes such as check-kiting” so “certain checks paid to the county were not recorded or deposited, but instead were held for a period of time and then substituted for unrelated cash payments…,” according to the statement.

LaPorte County is a co-plaintiff in the suit, which seeks repayment of $153,002.46, plus $45,815.25 in accounting costs incurred by state examiners.

Ray is scheduled to appear Friday in U.S. District Court in South Bend on the federal charges, authorities said.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Southsider2k12
post Sep 22 2015, 10:20 AM
Post #12


Spends WAY too much time at CBTL
******

Group: Admin
Posts: 16,413
Joined: 8-December 06
From: Michigan City, IN
Member No.: 2



Ray was convicted. Ray will be sentenced Dec. 22.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...58db646102.html
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post

Reply to this topicStart new topic
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:

 



Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 28th March 2024 - 11:25 PM

Skin Designed By: neo at www.neonetweb.com