Stoddard County sheriff disputes auditor's claims

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Tuesday news conference by Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich in Bloomfield led to a debate with Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner.

Schweich visited Stoddard County intending to share discrepancies he said were noted during the county's recent audit.

The missing funds Schweich stated his office found were the same funds admittedly stolen by the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department longtime business manager, Johnny M. Robey.

The total amount stolen was $14,867, with an additional $272 in undeposited checks.

While Hefner does not dispute the theft, he objected to two portions of Schweich's report.

"The state auditor's office didn't find this," Hefner said. "I had already found it and confronted the person who had taken this money. He confessed, and told me how much he had taken and the area that he had taken the money from."

Hefner stated that was when he spoke with the auditor's office and noted they had discovered the discrepancy. He said he told them some money was missing, how much was missing and from where it was taken.

Hefner also contacted The Daily Statesman and explained the findings as they were discovered.

Schweich said during his visit to Bloomfield that his office was responsible for the discovery.

"We brought our concerns immediately to the attention of the sheriff, who immediately determined who he thought was the culprit, then went and confronted that person and got a confession," Schweich said. "That's a good example of the way state and local authorities can work together to find people who are stealing taxpayer or other funds."

While Hefner said he is grateful for what the auditor's office does, he said that statement was not true.

"The state auditor's office had been [at their office] for two or three weeks and they had found nothing," Hefner said. "They knew nothing about the missing moneys until I went to them and informed them that the money was missing."

A release provided by Schweich at the event stated his office was provided with deposit records that had been fabricated by Robey. He blamed a lack of "proper oversight" as the reason for the theft.

In a news release issued Wednesday by the auditor's office, Schweich said inadequate controls at the sheriff's department allowed the embezzlement to happen.

"The real issue here is that the accounting controls in the sheriff's office were very poor, allowing for the embezzlement that occurred. This was not the first audit to note such problems in the sheriff's office. We will return in 90 days and hope to see improvement," Schweich said in the release.

"As to the discovery of the embezzlement of $14,867 by an employee of the sheriff, the discovery occurred because the state auditor's office requested records from the embezzler, and the embezzler abruptly left the premises," he said in the release. "The embezzler then acknowledged that the records demanded by our office would show that he had stolen money."

Hefner said additional steps have been taken by his office to ensure such issues do not occur again.

Hefner also took issue with Schwiech stating the money was taken from an inmate account, when it was taken from a commissary account.

"There was no inmate money missing," Hefner said. "All of the money was missing from the commissary account -- every penny from the inmate account was accounted for."

Schweich stated at the end of the meeting he wanted to be clear regarding the cooperation of the sheriff's department during the investigation.

"There was complete and total cooperation by this office with our office -- they worked very well together," Schweich said.

"As a result, they found a criminal, and that criminal has been charged and will be appropriately punished. I know restitution has already been paid for the most part, but that's only part of the solution. People have to know that in the future they can't just give the money back and everything is fine."

Hefner was grateful for the compliment, but remains concerned with the nature of the report that was filed.

"I appreciate the job that the state auditors do," Hefner said. "But whenever they're reporting something and writing a final draft ... the information should be correct. I don't feel as though the information in the report is 100 percent accurate."

Pertinent address:

207 S. Prairie St., Bloomfield, Mo.