SHELBYVILLE, Ill. (WAND) – “Mind-boggling' is the term used by an auditor who conducted a forensic audit of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
The WAND News I-TEAM has obtained a copy of an audit summary, which outlines nearly six years of questionable financial handling of taxpayer dollars within the department from 2015 through July 2020.
“We have a number of errors in every single component of payroll,” said independent auditor John Vanderburgh. “In one department for five-and-a-half to six years, there was three-quarters of a million dollars worth of problems.
In total, the audit indicates errors amounted to $759,379. In some cases, employees were shorted by more than $200,000. In other cases, the department improperly paid employees for unworked hours.
“The one that blew me away was that there were 11,808 hours that were paid but not worked,” said Kirk Allen of the Edgar County Watchdogs. “11,800 hours not worked. That’s theft of services.”
Illinois State Police have been conducting an investigation into possible payroll fraud and the handling of seized guns. At this point, no charges have been filed.
“My gut feeling is they’ll pay them what they owe the employees, but never make an attempt to collect overpayments,” John Kraft of the Edgar County Watchdogs stated when asked if he thinks taxpayers will recover the money they are owed.
The audit covered a period under a previous sheriff who resigned in 2021.
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