Official fired after Franklin County money goes missing

A financial manager in the Franklin County Clerk's Office was fired after investigators discovered that more than $11,000 was missing.

It's the second time in recent years that Franklin County has had a fraud investigation among its department officials, and the third incident of fraud involving county tax money.

Clerk Michael Killian, who is on reserve duty with the Navy in South Korea, confirmed Yesenia Torres was fired after initially being placed on leave while the Franklin County Sheriff's Office and Washington State Auditor investigated the missing money.

Torres, a longtime county employee, joined the clerk's office two years ago after working in accounting, payroll banking and other departments within the county.

She was fired April 17 after the sheriff's office and state auditor investigations. A Pasco phone number in her name rang unanswered Monday evening.

Killian's office discovered its July 18, 2017, deposit never reached the bank on Oct. 13, according to the auditor's report released Monday.

While Torres was on unexpected leave, another employee picked up one of her voice mails.

A customer wanted to know why a check mailed to the county in July had not been cashed.

The report doesn't say what the customer's business was with the clerk's office, which handles payments of court fines and legal financial obligations.

The clerk's employee who picked up the voicemail searched for the missing check and found that July 18 deposit, including $6,614 in cash and $2,246 in checks, was missing.

A sheriff's investigation confirmed the missing deposit and found a second one from Jan. 18, 2017.

The January deposit included $1,387 in cash and $815 in checks.

Killian notified the state auditor, as required by law, on Oct. 25.

The state auditor's office didn't find any more missing money.

It did identify weaknesses in how money moves from the clerk's office to the treasurer's office.

The report said that money was typically deposited within one to three business days. However, there were times when deposits were delayed by five days or more.

The auditor said that while the county's legal financial officer and Torres typically worked together to reconcile cash and checks received during the day, there was no backup if one of them was absent.

Killian's office disputed some of the findings. It said Killian and the chief deputy always are available to provide back up.

However, Killian's office took steps to strengthen internal controls. Cash is now handled exclusively be cashiers.

Accounts are subject to timely reconciliation, including a monthly review of all unreconciled deposits. The combination to a safe used by the Legal Financial Office is changed every 90 days, with strict rules against sharing of the combination beyond those required to have access.

The state auditor referred to case to Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant. It was not immediately clear if criminal charges have been filed.

The auditor's office recommended the county file a claim for the $11,062 loss, and $12,650 it cost to investigate the case, with its insurance bonding company.

Any compromise or settlement of the claim must be approved by the state's attorney general and auditor.

Franklin County has worked in recent years to upgrade financial management systems to prevent a deter another fraud scandal like the 2012 discovery that its public works administrator had embezzled more than $2.8 million over 22 years.

It has implemented several anti-fraud systems, including ONESolution, a financial management system, and WinCAMS, a cost accounting system designed for public works departments.

Dennis Huston, the former public works director, was sentenced to 16 years in prison after admitting to stealing money to support cocaine and gambling addictions. He's serving his sentence at the state penitentiary in Walla Walla.

In February, a couple was arrested by Franklin County deputies for allegedly stealing money from the county's Veterans Assistance Fund.

The couple — Edward E. Reiner, 65, and Patricia K. Gable, 60 — allegedly had been scamming the fund since 2012. Gable quickly pleaded guilty.

This story was originally published April 30, 2018 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Official fired after Franklin County money goes missing."