Abuse of State Credit Cards -- Purchase Rare Coins
Arizona Coin Collector
On the story below.
Hard to beleive that he purchase rare coins on
state taxpayers bucks. Would like to know if he
got to keep the coins after his conviction?
Seems like Mississippi would have found the
problems much sooner.
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FROM:
http://www.wtok.com/home/headlines/35151729.html
WTOK TV Mderidan MS
Abuse of State Credit Cards
Jackson, Miss.
Posted: 3:42 PM Nov 26, 2008
Last Updated: 3:42 PM Nov 26, 2008
Reporter: Jon Kalahar
Email Address: jkal...@wlbt.net
Just like any private business, the state of Mississippi
issues certain employees procurement or credit cards to
be used for business purchases. Right now there are
almost 3,000 cards in use.
That's not counting the nearly 30,000 Fuelman gas cards
across the state, used by state, county, and local
government employees.
So how easily are these cards abused or used for
personal gain?
With the help of the state auditor's office, this
reporter investigated how one state employee went from
trusted supervisor to jail.
By all accounts, Edwin Shelby was a model employee. Hired
at the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
in 1992, Shelby rose through the ranks until he was
appointed division director in 2002. More than a year
earlier, as a branch director, Shelby was issued a
Visa procurement card to make business-related purchases.
"Anytime you give a purchasing or a credit card to a
public employee, it's their personal integrity on the
first and front line that's going to guarantee that
card's being used properly," said State Auditor Stacey
Pickering.
An investigative report from the state auditor's office
states Shelby made his first personal purchase in March
of 2001, a month after he received the card. What
happened over the next 62 months investigators say is
hard to believe.
Shelby bought electronics including digital cameras
and camcorders, TVs, DVD players, rare coins and even
a garden hose. By the time he was done, Shelby had
run up a $111,000 tab and it was all on the taxpayers.
"They never stop digging the hole that they're in.
And they dig it deeper and deeper and deeper, and
ultimately, they never can pay that money back until
they're brought before the courts and they're held
accountable," Pickering said.
But how did Shelby hide that many purchases for that
many months? Investigators found Shelby was able to
disguise the nature of purchases, alter invoices, or
create false invoices, and even altered records using
his computer.
Internal auditors at MDEQ discovered Shelby's
cover-up in April of 2006 and reported it to the
state auditor. And since that time, according to this
statement from their spokesperson, they have
intensified their review process of all purchases to
cut down on fraud. But is their really any way to
stop it all together?
Pickering says the best way to limit this type of
abuse is to continue to monitor each and every
purchase.
"It's like our Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant
said when he was in this office, in God we trust,"
said Pickering. "But all others we audit. And I
think that's a fair assessment not only in the
government sector but in the private sector."
Ed Shelby resigned his position at MDEQ and was
sentenced to two years probation. He was
required to not only pay back the $111,000 he
spent, but also interest, plus investigative
costs.
Shelby paid back $152,000 to the state. The
auditor's office said it has been paid in full.
..