A West Tennessee town official has been indicted on charges of misappropriating public funds for personal use.
An audit released today by the state Comptroller shows that former Kenton, TN clerk Kelly Ann Greer misappropriated at least $2,000 of utility payments made in cash.
Greer concealed what she was doing by making unauthorized adjustments to the town’s computerized billing system.
The Comptroller’s office investigated the records of the town’s utility collections during the period of October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011, investigators then confronted Greer, who admitted that she kept $2,000 of cash utility collections to buy groceries.
The Comptroller’s office investigated the records of the town’s utility collections during the period of October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011.
The Obion County Grand Jury indicted Greer on one count of theft over $1,000 earlier this month.
The Comptroller’s audit also noted that town officials had insufficient safeguards in place to discover what Greer had been doing. Greer was able to handle all aspects of utility payments transactions, from accepting and receipting payments to making bank deposits.
Good accounting practices call for multiple people to be involved in financial transactions so they can check each other’s work.
“It’s very important to have proper controls in place to reduce the likelihood of fraud, waste and abuse,” Tennessee Comptroller Justin P. Wilson said. “These problems can be found in small towns as well as large cities. I commend our investigators for their work on this case.”
