11/23/2022 - Jefferson City, Mo.
State Auditor
Nicole Galloway today released her audit of the Carroll County Ambulance
District. The ambulance district's board of directors passed a resolution
requesting the audit, after a
whistleblower call from the ambulance district led to an initial review by the
Auditor's Public Corruption and Fraud Division. The audit resulted in a rating
of "poor," the lowest possible.
The audit
covered a period of time during which a former director was responsible for the
ambulance district's operations. Auditors found at least $91,794 was
misappropriated from the district during an approximately nine month period.
Payroll overpayments totaling $54,530 and questionable mileage reimbursements
totaling $1,945 were paid to the former director. The former director also
misappropriated $4,021 from a district employee benefit reimbursement account
and used a district credit card for personal purchases totaling $108. The
former director also improperly authorized 19 payroll overpayments totaling
$29,560 to 15 district employees.
The audit identified inadequate
oversight by the board of directors over the former director and insufficient
segregation of duties over the various financial accounting functions. The
board did not adequately monitor the district's payroll and disbursements
activity, which enabled the misappropriation by the former director.
The audit recommends that the board
work with law enforcement officials regarding criminal prosecution of the
improper overpayments, questionable and improper reimbursements, and improper
purchases, and take the necessary actions to obtain restitution. Going forward,
the audit recommends that the board should segregate accounting duties to the
extent possible and implement appropriate reviews and monitoring procedures.
The audit also noted several
instances where the board failed to follow the Sunshine Law as it relates to
closed session minutes, results of votes, and signed meeting minutes. The
Missouri Attorney General sued the district in April of 2021 for violations of
the Sunshine Law.
A complete copy of the audit is
available here.