Former Bunker Hill clerk must repay town $73,000

The Indiana State Board of Accounts launched a special investigation into Wilson after town officials became suspicious that she had mismanaged the town’s funds.

The investigation has now been forwarded to the Miami County Prosecutor’s Office and the Office of the Indiana Attorney General, which could pursue criminal charges against Wilson.

Wilson served as the clerk treasurer for two years from January 2014 to November 2015, when she resigned from her position three weeks after Miami County deputies initiated a criminal investigation into allegations that she tried to punch the town marshal.

The investigation revealed Wilson made 74 payments totaling $12,334 to utility and communications companies that were not credited to the town’s accounts, according to a special 17-page audit released last week. Further investigation linked more than $11,400 of those payments to Wilson’s personal accounts or her real-estate business called Hoosier State Realty.

The audit says Wilson also made 27 payments totaling $14,246 on her personal credit cards. Of those payments, 21 totaling $11,400 did not have accounts-payable vouchers or documentation showing the purchases had been made for the town.

She also made 13 payments to an online retail merchant on an account in her name, as well as three payments totaling $2,400 to a home-improvement store, without providing sufficient documentation the items were purchased for the town.

One receipt showed Wilson had purchased landscaping items totaling $251 that she kept for personal use and were observed on the premises of her property, according to the audit.

The town also made four payments totaling $2,250 to Wilson’s real estate business to purchase furniture and office supplies, but none of the claims for the purchases were ever presented to the town council for approval. Furthermore, Wilson failed to file a disclosure statement to report the conflict of interest in the purchases.

During all of 2015, Wilson was on the town’s group health insurance plan, but failed to withhold the employee’s share of premiums from her paychecks, which resulted in Wilson being overpaid by $2,918.

The audit also reported Wilson cost the town nearly $11,000 when she failed to cancel coverage from an insurance provider after switching to a new provider, resulting in three months of unauthorized duplicate group insurance coverage.

Current Bunker Hill Clerk Treasurer Andrea Newnum said she became suspicious of Wilson’s handling of town funds the first week she was appointed to the job in November 2015. She said she issued Wilson’s final paycheck, and noticed Wilson was not paying for her health insurance.

“That was the first red flag that made me start looking a little closer,” she said.

Newnum and the town council then launched an internal investigation, which led to the special audit by the State Board of Accounts.

Newnum said the $73,400, which Wilson must account for, could have saved the town last year from making painful cuts due to a tight budget. The town council ended up voting to move the town marshal from a full-time position to a part-time job, and cutting back on the hours of the town’s building commissioner and one of the maintenance workers.

“I don’t think those cuts would have been as severe if we had had that money,” Newnum said. “We still have tight reigns on spending so we don’t end up in the same situation, and this money would help a lot.”

Wilson was covered by a public-official bond for $30,000 during her first year in office, and $75,000 her second year. 

Corey Elliot, press secretary for Attorney General Curtis Hill, said his office "diligently pursues all options for collection of the funds due under SBOA audit reports. That includes pursuing bonds and insurance coverage on the liable public officials whenever possible."

However, Elliot said, he could not disclose specific information on Wilson's case, citing the ongoing investigation.

Town Council President Brock Speer said in a statement that no current council members were serving at the time Wilson worked as the clerk treasurer, and officials have worked closely with the state to assist the investigation.

“The current clerk treasurer and council members will continue to assist with this ongoing matter to the best of our abilities,” he said. “The citizens of Bunker Hill should know that since this investigation started, the town council has implemented policies and procedures in an effort to stop a situation like this from occurring again.”

Newnum said those procedures include the town council signing off monthly on her financial reports, as well as a board member checking her books monthly.

The current audit comes after the clerk treasurer who served before Wilson was also required to pay back money to the town.

The Indiana State Board of Accounts required former Clerk-Treasurer Sara Betzner to reimburse $24,600 to the town after an audit revealed she grossly mismanaged the town’s finances for more than three years. Betzner racked up more than $19,000 in penalties, interest, and other charges due to late payments and late tax filings.

Betzner served as the town’s clerk-treasurer from late 2010 to Jan. 1, 2014, when she resigned after failing to get state approval on a town budget for the third straight year. Wilson was then appointed to the position.

Wilson was the third clerk-treasurer in a row to resign.