Missing animal shelter funds probed

By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer - 11/4/2009


The Tulsa Police Department is investigating what happened to $18,941 in Animal Welfare Center revenue and fees that has been missing since 2008.

Of that amount, $12,610.50 was cash and $6,330.50 was from checks, the City Council was told Tuesday during a committee meeting discussion of a special audit of the facility.

In March, the city Auditor's Office was asked by mayoral aide Susan Neal to evaluate the cash handling procedures of the Animal Welfare Center.

Chief Auditor Ron Maxwell said Finance Department personnel noticed in March that revenue and fees collected in 2008 between Sept. 7 and Oct. 25 had not been recorded in the city's general ledger or deposited into a bank account.

The city has suffered a loss in Animal Welfare Center cash receipts, "and we believe crimes may have been committed," he told councilors.

Maxwell said the Legal Department recommended that the Police Department be notified for further investigation.

He said police detectives were provided with a "chain of custody" for the funds from the point of collection to deposit, which involves several layers beyond employees at the Animal Welfare Center.

Neal said the audit could not pinpoint any person or people who are at fault for the missing funds.

She said that if the police probe finds any evidence pointing to whoever is responsible for the missing funds "by neglect or criminal intent, they will be terminated."

The audit recommends that actions be taken to address the loss, including notifying customers who paid by check during the period to let them know that their bank account information might have been compromised.

Maxwell said the city also needs to decide whether to ask customers to write new checks for services they received or write off the loss.

The council was told that the creation of a comprehensive, unified, cash-handling policy for all departments is under way in the city's Treasury Division.

Maxwell said administrative departments have suffered disproportionate cuts as the city deals with a tightening budget.

"We have very thin backup in most of our administrative areas," he said.

"That is demonstrated in the condition of our controls system that needs serious attention by council and the administration."

Councilor Bill Martinson told Maxwell, "You're preaching to the choir.

"These sorts of exposure areas are starting to show up. You can't say we haven't been forewarned, especially from the auditors," he said. "I hope the council understands the magnitude of what they're telling us. There are consequences to underfunding departments."



P.J. Lassek 581-8382
pj.lassek@tulsaworld.com


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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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okierose, Tulsa County (11/3/2009 4:15:24 PM)
Is there any department in the City of Tulsa that hasn't had 'money missing'? geeesh.

L_Ifino, Tulsa (11/3/2009 4:21:22 PM)
sounds like the obama administration, talking about where some of the stimulus funds went.

born okay the 1st time, tulsa (11/3/2009 4:22:26 PM)
Interesting this all comes to light in KT's last days. The money has been missing since last year.

Norm, (11/3/2009 4:26:14 PM)
And our illustrious DA will do NOTHING about this. From his own mouth "Property crime cases are not a priority with my office - we won't prosecute them". And we wonder why we have a crime problem in Tulsa.

Ol City Boy, (11/3/2009 4:55:38 PM)
So, " they will be terminated" ?? How bout "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law" ??

osuk8e, Tulsa (11/3/2009 4:58:51 PM)
What Ol City Boy said plus have them pay all of the money back and give it to the police department to hire the three officers back.

ExTulsan, (11/3/2009 4:59:44 PM)
Terminated is the worse thing that will happen to them, even if convicted of embezzeling. First offenders get 5 years unsupervised probation regardless of how much they stole. Unless the victim has some clout in the community.

yep, Tulsa County (11/3/2009 4:59:47 PM)
Ridiculous! They're saying that departments cannot properly manage money because they are underfunded?!

DBJohn, Tulsa (11/3/2009 5:11:26 PM)
Isn't this interesting. The mayor cannot even run the dog pound correctly.

livinglarge, (11/3/2009 5:13:41 PM)
if almost 19grand was missing from our house there'd be some splainin to do

hubba bubba, (11/3/2009 5:18:45 PM)
The culprit may be the same animal control officer that I seen at North Cincinnati & 46th Street last week pick up a dog that had been ran over and pitch it in the grass. It is still there as of today, it has a board covering it now.

Ignatz, A nice place where Democrats hold every office in the County. (11/3/2009 5:27:40 PM)
L_,boy that sure was funny! Right up there with droopy's witty bon mots. Redneck humor.

droopy, wagoner (11/3/2009 5:37:45 PM)
Iggy, thank you for the recognition. If I have any humor it will certainly be redneck.

dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (11/3/2009 5:39:23 PM)
When I saw this headline I knew that somehow this was going to be Obama's fault.

skippy1, Tulsa (11/3/2009 5:44:52 PM)
When people steal donations meant to help poor, neglected animals it just makes me sick. My girlfriend and I are involved in the pet adoption program and we scrimp and save every penny we can to help these animals, only to have some low-life scumbags steal any chance these pets have. How do people like this sleep at night??

ExTulsan, (11/3/2009 6:02:24 PM)
Maybe a little Moslem punishment would reduce property crimes? It's hard to steal with a hand or two missing!

Popeye, T-Town (11/3/2009 6:06:21 PM)
ExTulsan: Wouldn't they cut off your paw?

Popeye, T-Town (11/3/2009 6:07:26 PM)
Did they look in the yard? Maybe it's buried?

Jolie2, (11/3/2009 6:11:24 PM)
Are you telling me that the City of Tulsa collects almost $19,000 in fees through the Animal Welfare Center (city shelter) during a period of only two weeks? I'm surprised it's that high. from the article: QUOTE Chief Auditor Ron Maxwell said the Finance Department staff noticed in March that revenue and fees collected between Sept. 7, 2008, and Oct. 25, 2008, had not been recorded in the city’s general ledger or deposited into a bank account. END QUOTE

Popeye, T-Town (11/3/2009 6:11:47 PM)
Quick, somebody go back and see if this was one of the questions they asked Cheney? FBI: "Richard, what did you do with the missing animal welfare money from Tulsa?" Cheney: "Dick! The name's Dick!"

Elusive, the burbs (11/3/2009 6:14:58 PM)
So the money changes hands so many times they can't figure who stole it? Somethings wrong with this picture. Then to ask people to write another check, ridiculous! What about the people that paid cash. They have receipts from that timeframe too but don't say they are considering asking them to pay again, more insanity. They were responsible for the funds when they took the money from adoptive families. Give them all lie detector tests and see who gets a lawyer first, smoke em out.

Sand In My Shoes, Tulsa (11/3/2009 6:42:37 PM)
Slippery fingers somewhere and our Dick Tracy's can't figure it out?

riverchubb, Independence (11/3/2009 6:44:23 PM)
Well, we can't say Tulsa is going to the dogs anymore.

aint missbehavin, .. (11/3/2009 6:46:47 PM)
I hope whoever did this gets a chop tied around their neck and thrown in the pen for it....hoo hoo hoo hoo,who let the dogs out..hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo.

FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (11/3/2009 6:55:26 PM)
I'm just wondering over what period of time did the nearly $19,000 come up missing. And they can't figure this out? Who, what, when, where were the persons responsible for cash accounting and deposits during this period of time.


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