Former East Tennessee Water Division Clerk Indicted For Theft And Credit Card Fraud

[Erica Absetz <erica () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/5/23/251896/Former-East-Tennessee-Water-Division.aspx

Following a review by the Comptroller’s Division of Investigations,
the former clerk of the Watauga River Regional Water Authority/North
Elizabethton Water Division surrendered to the Carter County Sheriff’s
Office this month after being indicted on charges of theft, forgery,
official misconduct and credit card fraud.

The Comptroller's review found the former clerk, Lori Beth Feaster,
had stolen cash utility collections, made personal purchases with
district credit cards and took unauthorized check payments that
amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.

Ms. Feaster used some of the agency’s funds to cover personal expenses
such as a battery and windshield wipers for her car and an energy
efficient front-loading clothes washer.

In a report released on Thursday, the Comptroller’s investigators
detailed how, in just two years, Ms. Feaster stole approximately
$44,174 of ratepayer funds while handling and accounting for utility
collections at the agency.

Investigators noted that it was Ms. Feaster’s ability to collect
money, prepare bank deposits and sign checks on behalf of the agency
without sufficient oversight which presented her with the opportunity
to steal public funds. She capitalized on that situation by issuing
more than $23,000 in checks to herself, taking more than $15,000 in
cash utility collections and making more than $4,000 in fraudulent
credit card purchases - all the while falsifying agency records to
cover her tracks.

Ms. Feaster concealed $23,743 in checks made out in her name by
fraudulently recording the payments in the agency’s accounting records
as payments to a backhoe vendor. She also shorted cash utility
deposits by at least $15,506.  In one instance, Ms. Feaster changed a
$6,974.34 bank deposit slip prepared by another employee to $5,974.35
and kept $1,000 for her personal use.

“Theft or misuse of public funds is unacceptable, whether those funds
come from tax dollars, utility bills or any other sources,”
Comptroller Justin P. Wilson said. “These types of crimes need to be
taken as seriously as any other type of theft.”

“The failure to adequately separate financial duties, as was the case
here, is the most common weakness in accountability that allows for
thefts of public funds to occur,” said L. Rene Brison, assistant
director of the Comptroller’s Division of Investigations.  “It is
imperative that all public officials and employees put adequate
safeguards in place to prevent any single employee from having sole
responsibility for each step in the collections and disbursements
process.”

To view the report online, go to: http://www.comptroller.tn.gov/ia/.
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