Theft of $178K in Braddock spurs call for action
Braddock's mayor on Friday called for an outside audit of the municipality's finances to determine how more than $178,000 could go missing from borough coffers before anybody noticed.
"As far as I'm concerned, we've had a complete lack of financial oversight in this town," said Mayor John Fetterman, who is in his second four-year term. "We have people on council who are supposed to be responsible for reviewing the checks being written every month, while at the same time this phenomenal amount of money is just walking out the door."
On Thursday, borough Manager Ella B. Jones, 58, of Turtle Creek was charged with three counts each of forgery and theft by unlawful taking for allegedly stealing the money. She was released from the Allegheny County jail after posting a $25,000 bond.
Jones denied stealing from the borough. She was hired to the $45,000-a-year job in 2000.
Allegheny County investigators, who were contacted by a Braddock police officer about the suspected thefts, say Jones forged the signatures of three councilmen — Jesse Brown, Matthew Thomas and William Zachery — who had the authority, along with her, to cosign checks.
Brown, Thomas and Zachery did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Investigators said some money allegedly taken by Jones was used for gambling. Bank records show that she withdrew more than $41,300 from ATM machines at or near casinos in Mississippi, West Virginia and in Western Pennsylvania. Jones paid more than $7,500 in bank and credit overdraft fees.
Councilwoman Tina Doose said she has taken steps to minimize the disruption Jones' arrest would cause in borough operations.
"The manager didn't make the bank transfer needed to meet this week's payroll, so I made sure that was taken care of to avoid the difficulties that would have occurred if our employees didn't get their paychecks," said Doose, who is in her second, four-year term.
Doose said she will recommend that council suspend Jones without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.
"The manager was definitely given free rein, and the checks and balances weren't there," Doose said. "I think we need to figure out what went wrong and prevent it from happening again."
Officials with the Pittsburgh accounting firm Maher Duessel, which conducted audits for the years during which Jones is accused of stealing from the borough, declined to comment yesterday.
Joseph Hohman, whose company serves as the state-appointed financial recovery coordinator under Act 47, said he, too, questions how the money could disappear undetected.
"The first thing we need to do is get somebody in to handle the day-to-day operations in Braddock," said Hohman, executive director of Resource Development and Management Inc. "Secondly, we need to make sure the borough's bonding company is aware of what has happened and that efforts begin to recoup the missing money."
Hohman said his company is not involved in the borough's daily operation.
"We're here to help guide the borough, which was declared financially distressed in 1988 under Act 47, toward solvency," Hohman said. "And Braddock has made significant progress toward that goal during the last several years."
Hohman's company, hired to serve as Act 47 coordinator in 1999, is paid $39,600 a year, according to Theresa Elliot, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, which oversees Act 47 operations.
