The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Crime & Courts

Discussion

March 19, 2013

Commerce men accused of embezzling funds from housing authority

By Wally Kennedy news@joplinglobe.com

MIAMI, Okla. — A warrant was issued Friday for Bob Crawford, the former executive director of the Commerce Housing Authority, who has been charged with five counts of embezzlement of public funds.

A warrant also was issued for Patrick Alan Cole, a maintenance man at the housing authority, who has been charged with one count of embezzlement of public funds.

The two men, both of Commerce, are charged with embezzling nearly $28,500 from the agency, according to affidavits on file in Ottawa County District Court.

A spokeswoman for the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department said neither man had been arrested as of Monday afternoon.  

Crawford, 61, who was removed from office in January 2012 after local authorities became suspicious about the possibility of embezzlement, is accused of issuing himself four additional paychecks totaling $5,215.33, from Jan. 9, 2009, to Jan. 24, 2012.

In addition, Crawford wrote himself $15,612.99 in unauthorized checks from April 2, 2009, through Jan. 23, 2012, from the Commerce Housing Authority operating account. The checks bore no memorandum or claimed to redeem cash compensation for vacation, sick or personal days.

Cole, 32, is charged with using a Visa debit card to buy non-business items totaling $7,671.49, from March 23, 2011, to Nov. 23, 2011. The purchases included cigarettes, groceries, DVDs, children’s toys and Walmart gift cards, an affidavit states.

Bond was set at $10,000 for each man, records show.

The charges stem from an investigation by a special agent with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Text Only
Crime & Courts
Local News

Sports

Facebook
Poll

Known as the “Blue Book,” Missouri’s official manual that includes information about public officials, state officials and local governments is online only now as a cost-savings measure. If the governor signs new legislation, a nonprofit could print it and distribute it to the public. Would you buy one?

Yes.
No.
     View Results
Twitter Updates
Follow us on twitter
Follow me on Twitter
May 2011 Joplin tornado

NDN Video
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel? Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting