RFP Staff
♦ The day will arrive when the state auditors and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) will descend on City Hall. A key feature will be a forensic auditing process likely to go back several years into city hall’s financial records. No thoughtlessly drawn up contracts or attempts at silence will protect those who may have committed white collar crimes. Already a small group of community-minded citizens are banding together to assure both the State Auditor’s office and the SBI are involved if they are not already. City council’s cover-up attempts and strong desire to move on has succeeded in attracting area and regional attention, it has also drawn attention in Raleigh.
What happens when a multi-tiered investigation gets underway? From our understanding the SBI will be the first in, doing preliminary investigation followed shortly by the state auditors. If these investigators turn-up criminal wrongdoing, look for the investigation to widen and draw in various state and federal agencies such as the IRS and the FBI. Below is information about the N.C. State Auditor’s Office and the SBI and how they operate:
An Investigative Report of the Town of Tarboro, N.C.
Investigators determined that a former Town Manager made nearly $366,000 of purchases over a six-year period that exceeded the scope of his duties and obtained over $87,000 for life insurance premiums without Town Council approval. Investigators also discovered that a former accounting clerk obtained over $30,000 in unemployment benefits for which she may not have been eligible and a former Electric Department director inappropriately received nearly $28,000 in reimbursements for his ex-wife’s health insurance. In addition, the Town Council failed to adequately oversee town operations to ensure accountability.
The Town of Tarboro State N.C. Auditor’s Report:
http://www.ncauditor.net/EPSWeb/Reports/Investigative/INV-2014-0397.pdf
The N.C. State Auditor’s Website:
Learn about the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) White Collar Crime Division
http://www.osc.nc.gov/cpe/5_0_SBI_Cardwell_White_Collar_Crime.pdf
