(The Center Square) — An audit of the 2023 Ascension Parish financial report found 22 reportable instances of theft of public funds.
The thefts, which occurred from September through December of 2023, totaled $39,469. The internal controls of the parish discovered the robberies within the following month of occurrence in all but one instance when a vendor inquired about a missing balance.
Ascension Parish received restitution for all amounts identified from their financial institution, but the perpetrators remain unknown at this time.
One of the instances totaling just over $17,000 was due to an external party intercepting a physical check disbursement of the parish and altering it for their benefit. Every other account of theft was caused by unauthorized electronic drafts being made from the operating account of the parish, and the cause of these instances are currently unknown.Louisiana Legislative Auditors said in the report that the parish was susceptible to theft of public funds due to unauthorized outside parties obtaining physical check disbursements and access to banking account information. Management at the Department of Finance for Ascension responded with an action plan, stating that in April, 2024 the parish implemented ACH Positive Pay, a technology that helps prevent fraud by monitoring transactions. Another issue noted was in the utilities department where the audit found the parish continued providing water services to two industrial customers with delinquent balances in which payment was not received within the required five days following the due date.The delinquent balances amounted to $63,222 and were outstanding greater than 30 days.In response to the audit, the Utilities Department implemented new procedures to review the account receivables biweekly to insure any delinquent balances are recognized and notified in a timely manner.Despite the notes on certain findings, LLA said overall the parish complied with state law “in all material respects” and reported no major deficiencies for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023.
