Columbus – A finding for recovery of $2,950 was issued Tuesday against the former marketing manager/director for the Madison County Agricultural Society, who was sentenced to prison for stealing rental payments, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced.

The finding against Robert M. Richardson was included in the audit of the Society’s financial activities from December 2018 through November 2020. A copy of the full report is available online at https://ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/search.aspx.

The Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) began investigating Richardson after he abruptly resigned from his position and moved out of state, amid suspicions that he had embezzled money from the Society.

SIU confirmed that Richardson received cash payments for rental contracts but did not provide the money to the Treasurer for deposit into the Society’s accounts. He was indicted in July 2019 on similar charges of stealing rental payments and pleaded guilty in November 2020 to felony counts of theft and grand theft.

Richardson was sentenced in Madison County Common Pleas Court to nine months in prison and ordered to make restitution of $1,200 to the Society.

Tuesday’s finding for recovery, totaling $2,950, includes additional stolen funds that were not part of the court-ordered restitution.

Since 2019, the Special Investigations Unit has assisted in 97 convictions resulting in more than $4.9 million in restitution (see?Map of SIU Convictions?since January 2019). The team receives hundreds of tips of suspected fraud annually. Tips can be submitted anonymously online or via SIU’s fraud hotline at 866-FRAUD-OH (866-372-8364).

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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 5,900 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. 

Public Affairs
Contact: Marc Kovac
press@ohioauditor.gov