Library embezzlement leads to call for external audit
By Felix Cortez
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HOLLISTER, California (KSBW) — San Benito County supervisors in Hollister are taking action to prevent future thefts after two former library employees embezzled more than $330,000 from the local library, a crime uncovered when Amazon sought reimbursement for outstanding invoices.
Kollin Kosmicki, a San Benito County supervisor, said, “We need to figure it out. And this is all about transparency and this is all about making sure this never happens again.”
The supervisors voted unanimously to hire a third-party auditor to investigate how the embezzlement occurred.
Kosmicki added, “You can’t sugarcoat this sort of thing. There clearly was neglect involved. And from a management perspective, we need to figure out who missed what. We need to figure out what processes need to be fixed.”
Some county supervisors had been requesting the external audit for more than a year, but were advised by legal counsel to wait until the criminal cases against the two women, Erin Baxter and Mary Alvarez, concluded.
Joe Paul Gonzalez, San Benito County Auditor-Controller, opposes the external audit, which could cost $50,000, stating, “It’s a shame that we’re going to be spending more money on an additional audit because the auditor’s office has done a very comprehensive job of documenting that what took place in that fraud.”
Kosmicki defended the decision, saying, “When you’re talking about public money and the amount of public money that was stolen in such a disgraceful way, it’s our duty as a credible organization. Any credible organization would do what we’re doing.”
The county auditor attributed the oversight failure to the previous library director, citing a dereliction of duties.
Gonzalez said, “In this case, this was a case where management basically neglected their duty of care. They were not present. They did not supervise, you know, the employees in their organization. They did not verify that the invoices for payment were true and correct.”
Since the embezzlement was uncovered, the county auditor has established a global Amazon account for the county, allowing the auditor’s office to monitor every Amazon transaction from each department.
Additionally, the auditor’s office now publishes a monthly intra-office newsletter focusing on checks and balances.
The county will soon send out a notice requesting proposals for the external audit to further investigate the embezzlement case.
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