State ends fiscal year with over $775,000 stolen money

The amount of money stolen from Tennessee counties grew by more than $200,000 in the 2012-13 fiscal year, according to a new report by the state comptroller’s office.

According to State Comptroller Justin Wilson, Tennessee began the last fiscal year with $563,372.50 in unrecovered cash shortages. During the year, $449,624.04 worth of new shortages were detected. Counties throughout the state recovered $237,775.42 through restitution payments, insurance claims or other means.

That left a net unrecovered shortage of $775,221.12 at the end of the fiscal year.

“While it’s encouraging that county officials have been able to recover substantial amounts of the money that has been taken from them, it’s discouraging that the amount of new thefts discovered in the fiscal year outpaces the recovered amounts,” Wilson said.

He is urging local governemts to follow the steps proposed by auditors to safeguard public money.

The report is based on a snapshot taken June 30, 2013, and drawn from audits of all Tennessee counties.

The Tennessee comptroller of the treasury encourages anyone who suspects fraud, waste or abuse of public money in the state to contact them and file a report.

Reach Ashley Coker at 615-726-5951 and on Twitter @theashleycoker.