Missing funds had been deposited

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 3, 2019

ST. MARTINVILLE — On Tuesday, the St. Martinville chief of police found the missing traffic fines the city’s chief administrative officer, with help from Mayor Melinda Mitchell’s transition manager, have been seeking for a week.

It took eight minutes and a phone call to a bank.

Monday night’s St. Martinville City Council meeting turned contentious as council members tried to get CAO Shedrick Berard to explain how $18,000 in LACE fines had gone missing from the city’s finance offices. The money orders had been bundled for deposit and were left in the city’s accounting specialist’s deck before she left on what has turned into an extended medical leave.

According to Mayor Pro Tem Craig Prosper, the funds were deposited on Feb. 20, but Berard was not aware of the deposit after a week of looking for the missing funds. 

“We have a CAO who is incompetent,” Prosper said. “And Janine Coleman, she said she went through our accounts looking for it. Neither one of them found it, and all it took was a call to the bank.”

At Monday night’s meeting, Berard said the money orders were last seen in the drawer of a desk in the finance office. He also said he had spoken to the bank. 

Police Chief Ricky Martin said he called the city’s bank Tuesday morning and asked for information on any police department accounts. 

“They told me there was a traffic enforcement account with $37,000 in it, so I asked when the last deposits were made,” he said. “One was on Feb. 20 for $18,000. The other was on April 1.”

The council agreed Monday night to wait until April 8 to report the missing funds to state police, giving Berard time to locate the money.

Coleman, an accountant who volunteered to look over the city’s accounts, recommended using the LACE ledger entries to track the money orders during her short time at the podium Monday night. Coleman is the same woman who offered to provide consulting services for Mitchell’s administration for between $60,000 and $165,000.

Coleman’s presence at Monday’s meeting came as a surprise to council members, but not as much of a surprise as learning Mitchell had allowed her access to the city’s financial records. According to the city’s home rule charter, the council is in charge of appointing any special service contracts, regardless of whether they are paid or voluntary. Mitchell’s acceptance of Coleman help as a consultant, even for free, violates the charter. 

Mitchell said she was at a meeting when texted for comment Tuesday night. She did not call or text afterward.

“It’s not like having someone volunteer to answer the phones,” Prosper said. “We have sensitive information, confidential information in that office.”

Aside from the charter issues, having someone working without a contract or any sort of agreement with the city’s financial records could raise control issues during the city’s upcoming audit. During her short presentation, Coleman indicated she had worked in the city’s computer records, citing reports from the previous finance officer’s tenure.

It is not clear if Mitchell secured any sort of memorandum of understanding or oral terms with Coleman.