PAHOKEE, Fla. — The city of Pahokee can’t account for nearly $2 million in taxpayer spending after an audit from the Inspector General in Palm Beach County, which found overpayments to contractors and evidence that suggests fraud and abuse by a former city manager.
A copy of the report was sent to the State Attorney’s Office for possible criminal charges. Inspector General John Carey said the audit’s findings show unprecedented widespread and systematic mismanagement of taxpayer funds.
“I have not found any city that we have audited or have been involved in with problems to this degree,” Carey told WPTV’s Ethan Stein. “This is a pretty, pretty widespread systemic problem.”
Carey’s office said the issues identified in this audit and in past financial statement audits and OIG reports show a pattern of mismanagement and lack of accountability that has continued for at least 10 years.
The issues include overpayments to contractors, city staff spending money without receiving required permission from elected officials and hundreds of purchases without purchase orders or proper paperwork, according to the report published on Tuesday.
The report also found city staff did not fill out paperwork to exempt their purchases of sales tax, then would reimburse employees for paying the state tax. Auditors also found the city didn’t follow their travel policy requirements, which included inappropriate credit card charges.
The report also said the city didn’t follow the recommendations in past audits, which found then-City Manager Chandler Williamson spent city money traveling to homecoming weekends at Benedict College in South Carolina.
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In responding to the report, the city said it would either seek outside services to implement and create policy, or work with legal counsel to fix problems found inside the report.
"These reports by themselves are not enough to proceed with active prosecutions," a spokesperson from the State Attorney's Office told WPTV. "If we get a complete filing packet from law enforcement that contains evidence that is usable and provable in court, then we would be able to file charges in these matters. Prosecutors must have sworn statements, probable cause affidavits under oath, and certified records under oath."
City administration didn’t respond to WPTV’s request for comment on Tuesday afternoon.
