Columbus – A fiscal officer owes $3,885 after state auditors found she used the Village of Macksburg’s (Washington County) debit card to make personal expenditures and unsupported ATM withdrawals.

Fiscal Officer Kimberlee Gardine spent $1,980 of the village’s funds in 2013 on a new camera and photos from Wal-Mart, in addition to insurance and internet payments. The expenditures were unrelated to the operation of the village.

“Fiscal officers are entrusted with the safekeeping of public dollars,” Auditor Yost said. “Unfortunately, Gardine used her position of trust as a means of cheating taxpayers out of thousands of dollars.”

Gardine also made 10 ATM withdrawals totaling $1,905 from the village’s bank account, but kept no receipts to show how the funds were spent. Findings for recovery totaling $3,885 were issued against Gardine. She was indicted this past June on counts of theft in office and tampering with records. 

The audit, which used Special Audit 2 procedures, also uncovered multiple instances of noncompliance, many of which stemmed from a lack of records.

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 5,900 state and local government agencies.  Under the direction of Auditor Dave Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies and promotes transparency in government.

Contact:
Beth Gianforcaro
Press Secretary
614-644-1111