State Auditor Shad White issued the following statement.
State Auditor Shad White announced today Special Agents from his office have arrested former Covington County Emergency Manager Gregory Sanford after he was indicted for fraud and embezzlement by a local grand jury. A $17,063.59 demand letter was presented to Sanford upon his arrest. The demand amount includes interest and investigative expenses.
Sanford is accused of embezzling from the county by personally creating and submitting fictitious invoices for nonexistent work. The invoices were paid by the county with checks, and Sanford allegedly converted the money to his own personal use.
Investigators also determined Sanford submitted invalid timesheets for employees who reported directly to him. These timesheets claimed hours not actually worked by county employees, but they were approved by Sanford despite his knowing they were inaccurate.
“My office and our investigators will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to fraud in this state,” said Auditor White. “That means investigating big and small cases alike.”
If convicted of all charges, Sanford will face up to 15 years in prison and $15,000 in fines. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The case will be prosecuted by the office of District Attorney Chris Hennis.
Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor’s office online any time by clicking the red button at www.osa.ms.gov or via telephone during normal business hours at 1-(800)-321-1275.
19 comments:
Not to speak badly of Shad, but in virtually every one of these situations, there are tips from fellow workers of these jobs. Quite often sex is involved. Once Shad is notified, it is not that hard to trace. Have fun out there!
But young "Shad" ignores questions about rampant fraud within
Jackson and Hinds County.
Useless positions anyway. Most of these people in emergency management are without a degree and usually washed out of any real public safety work.
DAMN, I missed getting on here before someone said 'why does Shad keep on going after this low hanging fruit and go after the bad folks', ..... or ' Shad only gets this info from folks who give him the tips'.
That's true. That's how the office works. That is the purpose, why he keeps on saying in every press release, public statement, etc that if you know of folks that are stealing public money, call my office. Tell us. We will investigate.
And, he is not supposed to ignore the 'small fry'. They are criminals as well. Yes, get the big bad folks. The folks that stole millions from SNAP/TANF funds at DHS. Get them all (don't stop when it gets a little warm.)) But, his job is to go after those that steal $1000 just as much as it is to go after those that steal a million.
I recognize that there are JJ readers that think they know how everything should work, in the world that they would like to be in charge of, but thats not the world that our government operates. Shad, bless his heart, has a job to do that includes the little small fry criminals, the big bad bastards, and all in between. His job is not dependent on him sniffing it all out on his on but taking 'tips' from anyone that wants to provide them. Just as each and every law enforcement operation does. (Ever heard of TIPS, or rewards for information, etc? Ain't no difference here than when looking for the murderer of your elderly neighbor.)
Does Shad have a proactive press office? Yes, but just as every other Auditor has had since Mabus. Hell, Deputy PHILL bragged about recovering over $8 million in the first ten years of his office - something that I would have left under the covers -- but it wasn't my name that was aiming for the papers that month and I'm sure they figured that nobody would do the math and recognize that wasn't something to brag about.
Whatever. Glad Shad took another crook and brought him to the courthouse in other than his dress whites. Don't care that it is ONLY $17K - lock his ass up and let him live in some quarters other than his air conditioned government office for a while.
Thanks, Auditor. Keep on going after anybody that is stealing from the government till. The others in the office deserve to have a workplace free from these folks, petty or majors.
@11:24 ohhhhh brotherrrrr.
@11:24. Hi Shad.
11:24 - You must be new around here. Keep it to one paragraph and don't expect to change anybody's mind
Meanwhile in the largest county in the state the people are screaming for county investigations into "certain ones" and all we get is stories of the low hanging fruit.
I would have to believe there was a direct correlation with the false time sheets and the people that knew Sanford was doing something shady.
Big deal....I have a tip for Shad. The Mayor of Jackson MS is on the take. Investigate him.
As a matter of fact... lets follow the money on most things political in MS. Nothing but a bunch of crooks.
The alleged perp is 'former employee'. Was he terminated already?
The investigative snake will bite Jackson/Hinds in the ass when you least expect it. Same with Canton/Madison.
Gotta love these goobers who wanta coach from the bleachers.
@11:24 you are going to catch some grief on here. The reason is because you are correct. Shad, or any other auditor, must stop the theft, whether big or small. They guy stealing $5000 is just as guilty as the guy stealing $500,000.
Did he have to turn in his $75,000 county pickup truck and credit cards?
I'm just here for the comments. The one telling folks to keep it to one paragraph is particularly funny. Have our attention spans gotten that short? LOL!
9:54 : From the jump. I imagine one of the county supervisors has a sister..........
@11:24, Nobody is complaining about Shad going after small fry and big time players. They complain about him going after only small fry and avoiding any cases that will bring him political blowback.
All but probably a dozen people in Mississippi believe millions of dollars get bled out of the hinds county and jackson governments each year. When they don't see those places getting cleaned up, fair or not, they assume it's because Shad doesn't want the blow back, not that it's because he doesn't think he could make multiple cases if he took the time to audit and investigate.
Shad going after those he sees as threats. State Rep. Noah Sanford (R-90) is rumored to be an Auditor candidate in 2023.
2:26 : The PPE money had specific strings attached and it has been used for none of it.Same goes for the Hinds County School System. Where is the money ? Maybe Shad can't investigate FED money but in investigating other stuff uncovers the other and turns it over to the FEDS. Does every supervisor and their kin really need fully loaded F150'S and Silverado's ? Does Kenny Wayne need a county credit card and a F-150 to drive back and forth to the other county in which he lives ? Does the head of Hinds County Schools need a special viewing room to watch ball games from while the rest go without ? Its disgusting. This seems ripe for Shad.
A beekeeper was indicted after he confessed to years of stealing at work. They charged him with emBEEzlement
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