A fraud investigation report from the Washington State Auditor’s office revealed that nearly $200,000 in public funds were misappropriated by a Mason County fire chief and her secretary.
The state auditor recommended to the District to file a police report about the loss of public funds from January 1, 2017 through July 31, 2022, but as of Aug. 17, no police report had been filed.
Additionally, the one of the Mason County commissioners is married to the District secretary. The fire chief is their daughter. The report also said the fire chief paid herself several times in advance and received $2,982 in unsupported payroll payments. The commissioner, who is married to the Secretary, received three meeting paychecks for unknown reasons in 2020, totaling $693.
A review of the credit card activity from January 1, 2017, to May 29, 2020, showed the District had not made a credit card payment since January 2020, and had an outstanding balance of $36,841 when the credit card was closed on May 29, 2020 for having the outstanding balance. Another $20,811 in payments were made to a cellular vendor. The fire chief bought six cellphones and six smart watches, and not only was the report not able to locate the items in the District’s possession, but there was no business purpose for 13 of the 16 phone lines.
The commissioner said he did not know the fire chief received extra paychecks, or that the secretary received extra paychecks.In a written response to the allegations in the auditor’s report, the District said:
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