Audit: $108,000 taken from Missouri Veterans Commission

State News

Discussion

April 12, 2010

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Mon Apr 12, 2010, 09:41 PM CDT

The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A former employee of the state auditor’s office embezzled nearly $108,000 while working as an accountant for the Missouri Veterans Commission, the state auditor alleged Monday.

Stacy Griffin-Lowery was fired by the Veterans Commission in March 2008 and pleaded guilty three months later to a misdemeanor theft charge. She repaid the state $17,665, the auditor’s office said.

But Missouri Auditor Susan Montee on Monday accused Griffin-Lowery of swiping an additional $90,192 by getting reimbursed for cash advances and purchases made on her personal credit card.

Griffin-Lowery declined to comment when contacted Monday by The Associated Press at her current job at a private company.

Montee said Griffin-Lowery worked for the auditor’s office for six years before leaving in 2002 to join the Veterans Commission staff. The state agency operates several nursing homes and cemeteries and helps people file for federal veterans’ benefits.

As an auditor, Griffin-Lowery had been in charge of auditing the Veterans Commission. Montee said she believes Griffin-Lowery used that knowledge to later commit fraud at the Veterans Commission, where her work as an accountant was not adequately reviewed by supervisors.

Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson said the auditor’s office notified his staff in March that more money was missing from the Veterans Commission. But Richardson said he cannot file new charges because the 2008 plea agreement settled all allegations related to Griffin-Lowery’s theft from the Veterans Commission. The auditor’s office and veterans agency verified at the time that her restitution payment covered the losses, Richardson said.

“If it was legally possible, we would file further charges. But it’s not legally possible,” he said.

The Veterans Commission said it would seek to recoup the additional money through an insurance bond. But Montee suggested more criminal charges were appropriate.

“If the prosecutor fails to take any other action, she walked away with $90,000,” Montee said at a Capitol news conference.

Jefferson City attorney Matthew Grayson, who represented Griffin-Lowery, said he thought the matter had been settled by her plea agreement. Griffin-Lowery was sentenced to two years of probation along with paying restitution, according to court records.

“We believed that when we wrapped up the case that the matter was handled appropriately,” Grayson said. “Any allegations about any additional moneys is something we’ve just been made aware of and something I would have to investigate.”

The audit says the thefts occurred over 21 months beginning around June 2006 and could have been prevented — or at least caught sooner — with better oversight by the Veterans Commission.

Commission executive director Larry Kay acknowledged the agency didn’t have a good system for detecting fraud but said it has since improved its financial oversight.

“We have a better division of duties so that one person is not allowed to kind of control the system, as the person in question was able to do,” Kay said.

The audit also pointed out several other problems with the Veterans Commission. The agency didn’t adequately document why it paid former executive director Hal Dulle an extra $35,000 after he resigned in August 2008, it said.

Also, Veterans Commission member Paul Connors has a conflict of interest because he is an officer with the Veterans of Foreign Wars and has signed grant requests that group submitted to the Missouri Veterans Commission, Montee said.

Commissioners don’t vote on grants, but Connors has stopped signing those requests anyway, the commission said.

Text Only

State News

2.6 magnitude earthquake recorded in Oklahoma
The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded a 2.6 magnitude earthquake near Wellston in central Oklahoma.
No injuries or damage is reported.

January 19, 2011
Audit: $108,000 taken from Missouri Veterans Commission JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A former employee of the state auditor’s office embezzled nearly $108,000 while working as an accountant for the Missouri Veterans Commission, the state auditor alleged Monday.

Stacy Griffin-Lowery was fired by the Veterans Commission in March 2008 and pleaded guilty three months later to a misdemeanor theft charge. She repaid the state $17,665, the auditor’s office said.

But Missouri Auditor Susan Montee on Monday accused Griffin-Lowery of swiping an additional $90,192 by getting reimbursed for cash advances and purchases made on her personal credit card.
April 12, 2010
Race in Kansas’ 2nd District could heat up for GOP incumbent TOPEKA, Kan. — A conservative Kansas legislator said Monday he will announce in a few weeks whether he will challenge freshman U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins in the Republican primary.

State Sen. Dennis Pyle’s actions in recent months suggest the Hiawatha farmer, who’s served in the Legislature since 2001, is running against Jenkins in the Aug. 2 primary. He set up a campaign organization in November and has a Web site featuring a brief video of him on his farm, asking viewers for support.
April 12, 2010
Oklahoma tea party leaders, lawmakers envision militia OKLAHOMA CITY — Frustrated by recent political setbacks, tea party leaders and some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty.

Tea party movement leaders say they’ve discussed the idea with several supportive lawmakers and hope to get legislation next year to recognize a new volunteer force
April 12, 2010
Missouri: Senate panel cuts $500 million from proposed budget JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Senate committee declared Thursday that it has sliced more than $500 million from Missouri’s proposed budget for next year — meeting a target set by Gov. Jay Nixon to bring it in balance.
April 8, 2010
Kansas: Wichita-area casino in doubt after governor’s decision TOPEKA, Kan. — A proposed casino south of Wichita was in doubt Thursday after Gov. Mark Parkinson refused to grant its developers a regulatory reprieve. Partners in the $225 million Chisholm Creek project wanted to delay a state board’s decision on their plans.
April 8, 2010
Oklahoma: Groups oppose education spending initiative OKLAHOMA CITY — A coalition of business and labor groups said Thursday it will work to defeat a ballot initiative to dramatically increase spending on public education that coalition members said would devastate the budgets of many other state services and possibly force tax increases.
April 8, 2010
Missouri: Gov. Nixon affirms support for tuition freeze COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has no plans to sit idly while lawmakers consider whether to preserve a tuition freeze deal he assembled before the state’s dire financial status was fully known.
April 7, 2010
Kansas: Agency uses YouTube to illustrate road woes TOPEKA, Kan. — It’s one thing to hear about potholes and state budgets. It’s another to see how the two are connected. That’s part of the thinking behind a new video presentation on YouTube this week from the Kansas Department of Transportation.
April 7, 2010
Oklahoma: Pathologist says girl’s throat might have been cut OKLAHOMA CITY — A 7-year-old girl who was found dead in Oklahoma near the body of her suspected kidnapper likely died after her throat was cut, an independent pathologist said Wednesday, the same day the child’s funeral attracted hundreds of mourners.
April 7, 2010
More State News Headlines

Some of first to rebuild describe life in tornado zone

State News

Search Results

Discussion

Audit: $108,000 taken from Missouri Veterans Commission

Eliminating the state income tax and increasing sales tax was debated during a press day on Thursday at the Missouri Capitol. Do you favor that proposal?

Eliminating the state income tax and increasing sales tax was debated during a press day on Thursday at the Missouri Capitol. Do you favor that proposal?

Site Map

Contact Us