For Immediate Release:                                                      

August 25, 2020                                                                    

Finding for Recovery Issued Against Former Village of Midvale Utility Clerk

Columbus – Auditor of State Keith Faber’s office released the 2018-2019 audit of the Village of Midvale (Tuscarawas County) and issued a finding for recovery against the former Village Utility Clerk for $2,140.

Former Village Utility Clerk, Stephanie Ajanel, was responsible for collecting utility payments, posting payments to customer accounts, making deposits with the fiscal officer, and making adjustments to customer accounts. For the period May 1, 2016 through January 30, 2017, the Village lacked segregation of duties in the utility department and all of her duties were performed without any review or checks and balances.

During that time, cash for nine payments were collected by Ms. Ajanel and credited to the customer accounts, but not deposited. Eight more payments were collected by her and credited to customer accounts, but subsequently voided on the account and not deposited into the Village’s bank account. Additionally, she made adjustments to 48 customer accounts on January 30, 2017, to which she had previously posted payments, without supporting documentation. It was determined that $2,140 was collected by Ms. Ajanel and not deposited into proper Village accounts.

On December 9, 2019, Ms. Ajanel was indicted on one count of Theft in Office (F-4), one count of Tampering with Records (F-5), and one count of Tampering with Evidence (F-3) in the Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court. On April 15, 2020, she entered a plea of No Contest to one count of Theft in Office, and one count of Tampering with Records and was sentenced to one year supervised community control, 250 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay restitution to the Village of Midvale.

A finding for recovery was issued against Stephanie Ajanel totaling $2,140 in favor of the Village of Midvale’s Water Operating Fund.

A full copy of this report is available online.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio is responsible for auditing more than 6,000 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.