State Auditor Shad White issued the following statement.
Today State Auditor Shad White announced special agents from his office have arrested the former lead cashier for the Clarksdale Public Utilities Shoral Bounds. She was indicted for embezzlement by a Coahoma County grand jury. A $182,771.97 demand
letter was presented to her upon arrest. The demand letter includes interest and investigative expenses.
Bounds is accused of embezzling customer utility payments and manipulating the computer systems to show that her daily collections were less than she collected.
“This is, yet again, a person working at a utilities office who took advantage of the very people she should have been serving,” Said Auditor White. “If you know of similar fraud happening anywhere
in Mississippi, please contact my office. We are dedicated to putting a stop to this abuse of the taxpayers’ trust.”
If convicted, Bounds faces 20 years in prison and thousands of dollars 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 Office of the Attorney General will prosecute the case.
A $50,000 surety bond covers Bounds’s employment at the Clarksdale Public Utilities. Surety bonds are similar to insurance designed to protect taxpayers from corruption. Bounds will remain liable for the total amount of the demand in addition to criminal proceedings.
34 comments:
A $182,771.97 demand letter but only a $50,000 surety bond. Seems obvious that a higher surety bond should have been required, along with a better background check.
Shad getting all tough on old ladies who steal in rural Mississippi but gets all quiet when it comes to Phil.
As usual the investigation will show that there was ample opportunity to handle public funds without accountability. Jobs, jobs, jobs, without any real supervision. That would be abusive.
Elected officials and agency heads, you are safe
Poor folk watch out
Hey Shad... I got a tip... he goes by Deepity Phil
The best thing about roasting all the small fry is they don't usueally have a competent defense attorney. Thus a high conviction rate!
Shad ain't dumb.
Just like the IRS cutting way back on audits for top bracket filers.
I'm glad to hear he's staying on top of this kind of stuff. I would imagine it's like cockroaches -- for every one you see there's a hundred that you don't.
And Phil quotes the famous philosopher, Alfred E. Neuman, "What Me Worry?"
Must be why Shad is scared of CMU, MCBOS, and other shenanigans in Madison County.
The big fish don't have to worry about the little Shad.
I can assure you Phil is having sleepless nights wondering who will bring the nail to put in his indictment! Just be patient. Former MDHS Director John Davis should not take Phil’s orders sitting down. John you have to tell the Truth. Them boys in the penitentiary is waiting for you. You can’t stay in protective custody forever, cause that shigity will drive you CrAzY!
Don’t go down alone John, cooperate!!!
John you got that promotion on 750 North State Street and I’m sure you didn’t know, you don’t get something for nothing.
Even shad rightfully credits the people in his department. All shad does is sign the press release. Why such a man crush on the boy wonder KF?
And better yet, what was that whole office doing under the predecessor?
Keep in mind: It’s a lot harder to stop than it is to start.
Move accordingly.
Always a welcomed sight to see public corruption exposed, but very demoralizing to see Shad's hypocrisy continue. Phil Bryant should be UNDER the jail. The public record requests and the MS Today interview tell the public all we need to know to prosecute him. Ignorance or mistake of the law is no defense, even when relying on the advice of legal counsel! #LOCKHIMUP
"And Phil quotes the famous philosopher, Alfred E. Neuman, "What Me Worry?""
That goes for the whole cabal of dirtbags going back 15 years at least, not just Phil. They are ALL in on the scam(s). Count Shad in as well. Nobody wants to be the one who brings the whole system down, so they cover for each other.
I swear! Some of you people
And your obsession with "Phil". It's pathetic.
dang, too many of you guys seem to have a man-crush on Phill....are all ya'll serious or are you just flirting?
@3:15 - the truth hurts, doesn't it?
Lets add CMU, the Blackmons, and Canton to the Phil chant.
I am pro-arrest for all the thieves.
I've lived in two other states and never saw this frequency of the embezzlement of government funds. This is disgusting and rates right up there with the vastness of undisciplined, scoflaw, narcissistic drivers in Mississippi.
If the foo shits, wear it.
God I love this crime ridden state. Always good for entertainment, giggles and laughs. Deep down you wish it would stop, but we are inhabited by idiots who never learn from others like them.
I wonder why we don't hear Shad bragging about his irresponsible witch hunt against Professor Thomas at Ole Miss? Shad is flat out wrong in that case. Inquiring minds want to know how much Shad is gonna have to pay Thomas when this all shakes out.
This here type corruption is what you get when idiots design and run things.
Business and accounting procedures designed and implemented by folk who can't get right, and don't even understand how to figure out what best accounting practices are.
No wonder this stuff happens all the time.
There's a reason why so much of Mississippi government and businesses do it differently than most. Same reason Mississippi is known for excellence of so many sorts. People think they know better than the so called pointy headed experts from elsewhere. They'll tell you they know better than the rest.
That's what the politicians say, and that's what the voters vote for.
How many college level accounting courses did Auditor Phil ever take? He's proof positive in Mississippi even the highly unqualified can succeed, in a way.
Stacey Motor Home Campaign Fund Pickering is a different case of the same. Even before whatever went down at the Veteran's Affairs.
3:23 no man crush on Phil. Some of the readers know that John Davis had nothing to gain but just that high 4 in PERS. John just didn’t know that his boss had other ideas putting him in that position ( speculation). John was set up for failure. He knew that was money for the poor and not The rich football star nor USM. We are not stupid!
I personally don’t give a rats ass cause this shigity has been going on for decades. I am retired and just like to comment. This blog don’t stress me or make me feel warm and fuzzy. I just don’t had nothing else to do at the moment.
I don’t know that the boss is a part of this or not. But one damn thing for sure is that the buck stops at the ex bosses door. John did not do all this for so long without the OK.
The whole Phil Bryant issue looks bad. Certainly there were many bad decisions. But did Phil do anything illegal? I’m asking. Based on what I’ve seen, I haven’t seen anything that looks illegal. I certainly could be wrong.
$ is a confidence scam. US of A just prints more when needed
4:44 Professor Thomas at Ole Miss is a disgusting liberal hack. He should have been fired.
@11:12pm
Professor Thomas was given tenure by the IHL even after he was making leftist waves.... what does that tell you about Oxford?
The institution is desperately attempting rehab their image as "progressive" (to attract younger students), but everyone who works there knows full well that it's a bastion of white supremacy - their enrollment is actually plummeting, and they can't stand to admit it.
The days of Oxford/UMMC having influence in every hall of Mississippi are assuredly coming to an end... it's only a matter of when.
Non college educated individual TRIGGERED over liberal hack collegiate professor…. Imagine that
Why are so many of the commentators obsessed with Phil Bryant? Shad has said the FBI have the records, and they haven’t arrested him either. And we’ve been under a democratic DOJ for almost two years. If there is indictable charges that can be prosecuted, the DOJ will do it. But, more than likely, there are not charges that will stick. The text messages show he was stupid and on the edge of doing something unethical, if not illegal, but he didn’t cross the line. And it’s his job to recruit businesses to the state. Barbour certainly did it. I’m sure Tate is doing it as well. Y’all need to calm down and stop accepting everything that MS Today says as the gospel truth. Anna Wolfe has an agenda too, after all.
@11:12- take a look-see
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi enrolled 21,856 students across its seven campuses for fall 2021. This includes 3,584 students in the freshman class – an 18% increase over 2020, the largest increase in the number of incoming freshmen from one fall to the next in university history.Nov 2, 2021
@ 10:17am LOL The boost in UM's enrollment came from the forced dual credit students flying through community college and not having to really lift a finger for those freshman/sophomore credits. This was/is by design - because thousands are not even wanting to go to college anymore, so THOUSANDS are being herded through the community college credit system via taking online classes in high school, and automatically qualifying for a transfer to UM. Totally bogus system....everyone in higher education knows it.
Let's break it down closer for everyone:
1) The students are happy to make little effort and getting to go to UM.
2) UM is happy with "increased" enrollment - manufactured mind you because they were hemorrhaging numbers, but then: Covid - never waste a crisis, so online everything!
3) High Schools are happy - lots of high grades in dual credit (0% effort)
Community colleges get to brag about how many "graduated" with them. LOL They are basically the 13th grade now...and are essential to the whole flim flam game.
It's a gigantic scam of the first order. No one wants to ask: Where are my tax dollars that go for colleges and universities and property taxes for K-12? Isn't this double dipping the taxpayer? Yep.
Calling Shad White. The Useless Idiot.
If this thread is still about the woman in the water-bill window stealing money, I'd like to ask a question: Why in the world, after fifty years of employees with this job stealing money from municipalities all across the state, is there still nothing to prevent it?
Just imagine how much of this same sort of public money was stolen before the day of computers. And now, even a mental midget can tweak a computerized spread sheet or data entry form and instantly convert the payment to her own use.
Ol’ Shad is real good when it comes to picking low hanging fruit and patting himself on the back.
Post a Comment