Audit Objective
Determine whether the Town Board (Board) in the Town of Pharsalia (Town) provided adequate oversight of financial operations.
Key Findings
The Board did not provide adequate oversight of financial operations, which allowed the former Town Supervisor (Supervisor) to misappropriate Town funds.
- The former Supervisor disbursed more than $172,000 without Board authorization.
- The former Supervisor inappropriately paid himself more than $57,000.
As a result of our audit and investigation, the former Supervisor was arrested in 2019 on charges of Grand Larceny in the second degree, Scheme to Defraud, Defrauding the Government, Corrupting the Government and Public Corruption. In June 2021, he pled guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, as a crime of Public Corruption. He was ordered to pay $240,000 in restitution, of which he has already paid $125,000. In September 2021, he was sentenced to serve one to three years in a State prison.
Key Recommendations
- Disburse Town money only after proper Board authorization.
- Perform a thorough annual audit of the financial records, reports and supporting documentation.
Town officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they would initiate corrective action.