header

Taylor: Audit Reveals Nearly $150,000 Missing from Erie County Treasurer’s Office

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Erie County - Auditor of State Mary Taylor today released the special audit of the Erie County Treasurer’s Office for the years 2005 through 2010. The audit shows former Deputy Treasurer Tamara Holeton failed to deposit $146,592 in funds that were given to the treasurer’s office by various county departments.

“Individuals who abuse the public’s trust must be held accountable for their actions,” Taylor said. “My office is committed to working with local officials to identify the source of theft and help prevent further misuse of taxpayer money.”

During the audit period, county departments would collect revenue and give funds to the treasurer’s office for deposit. As a part of this process, county departments posted information regarding the funds to the county’s computer system. As deputy treasurer, Holeton was responsible for collecting money from the departments and creating a report at the end of the day detailing the transactions that took place between the treasurer’s office and other departments.

During the audit it was noted that the amount posted to the county’s computer system by the departments did not match the total reported by the treasurer’s office. The difference between the computer system and the records maintained by the treasurer’s office were traced to missing payments that were not deposited.

In addition to the finding for recovery, the audit contains seven management comments which can help strengthen the internal controls of the Erie County Treasurer’s Office.

Holeton, who pleaded guilty in August to charges of theft in office and record tampering, is awaiting sentencing.

A full copy of the audit is available online.

###

The Ohio Auditor of State’s office is a leader in the government accounting and auditing field, earning prestigious national honors from the Government Finance Officers Association, the National White Collar Crime Center and the National State Auditors Association.

Contact
Jeannie Foley
Deputy Press Secretary
(614) 644-1111