MORTON, Wash. — A new report from the state auditor says a former clerk-treasurer for the small town of Morton stole $937,000 in public money.
Morton is only home to about 1,100 people and according to the auditor, it only pulls in about $2.2 million dollars of revenue every year.
The auditor’s report said the clerk-treasurer took city cash out of ATMs, wrote fraudulent checks, among other alleged crimes for more than eight years.
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Kathleen Cooper with the auditor’s office said the clerk was the only person in charge of processing payments and writing checks.
“This allowed her to initiate payments without approvals and then process those payments without management oversight,” Kathleen Cooper, spokesperson for the State Auditor’s Office told KIRO Newsradio. “In other words, there were no checks and balances over the treasurer’s activity.”
Cooper says city leadership was warned but failed to act.
“Our audits noted that leadership at the City of Morton had several opportunities to respond to red flags about this activity and did not,” Cooper said.
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The incidents took place between 2013 and 2021, but a new report from the auditor’s office shows the case is just now being investigated. It is being handled by the Lewis County prosecutor’s office.
In a statement, the city says it’s since eliminated the joint position to ensure more accountability.
“The City knows that the community places their trust in the City employees who serve them and that this is damaging to that relationship. For the sake of transparency and to protect that trust, the City wants the community to know that none of the City’s current employees were involved with stealing City funds.”
Morton officials said they plan on prosecuting the former clerk-treasurer and “will be pursuing all legal options.” She has not yet been charged with a crime.
Contributing: Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest
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