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FBI investigating Garland's finances Saturday, Mar 15, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The FBI and the state police are investigating possible misuse of public funds in the southwestern Arkansas community of Garland by the city's mayor, other current and former city officials, and residents of the small Miller County town, state auditors told legislators Friday. Also, the city of 350, located on U.S. 82 about 23 miles east of Texarkana, owes the Internal Revenue Service nearly $159,000 in unpaid payroll taxes, interest and penalties, auditors told the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee. State auditor Kim Williams reported a routine audit of city finances found Mayor Yvonne Dockery entered into about $86,000 in lease contracts for a fire department tanker and three police cars without city council approval. The city has not made any payments on the lease agreements and two Illinois-based lease companies have filed breach of contract complaints, Williams said. She said the audit also found seven checks totaling $48,800 were issued without supporting documentation to the mayor, a current city employee and two city residents. All of the checks were cashed. Audit findings showed Dockery received about $28,500 in payroll advances from 2004 to 2007, about $11,800 of which was unearned. City Recorder/Treasurer Janice Hanson received $11,600 in payroll advances during the time period and $3,325 was unearned, auditors said. Over the three-year period, Dockery, Hanson and former Recorder/Treasurer Lateta Briggs also received undocumented travel reimbursements totaling $1,959, according to the audit. Garland alderman Donnie Dudley, who attended Friday's meeting, told committee members he and the other five council members were unaware that anything was wrong until it was too late. "When we knew anything they had already (acquired the vehicles) ... all of it was unauthorized," Dudley said. "The council didn't know anything about it. (Dockery) took it upon herself in her own capacity as mayor." To illustrate the problem, Dudley recalled an incident in which the city council thought it had purchased a $5,000 GMC truck for the city fire department but a Ford truck was delivered, along with a $46,000 receipt. He said he was "sad and embarrassed" by the ordeal and that it was "hurting the community." Messages left for Dockery and Hanson at Garland City Hall were not returned Friday. No one answered the telephone at Lateta Briggs' home in Garland on Friday afternoon. "We're just tired and we're trying to get something done," said Garland resident Jearldene Morris, who attended Friday's meeting with her husband, Q.T. Morris. "We hope the issues can be resolved and the residents can have the help that they need," state Sen. Barbara Horn, D-Foreman, said after the meeting. Horn's district includes Garland. Also Friday, auditors told the committee the former city/treasurer of Parkin in eastern Arkansas has been arrested and charged with theft of property. Authorities accused Theresa Harris of misappropriating $10,000 in city funds. Harris was arrested after state auditors presented their audit findings to the Cross County prosecutor, who then conducted his own investigation. The audit found Harris issued five general fund checks totaling $10,000 in 2006 payable to the city's water and sewer department, improperly substituted the checks in the department's deposits for cash collected for water services and tried to conceal the transactions by posting the checks to other city vendors in the cash disbursements ledger. |
