Who was watching the town bail fund in Southold?
Robert Clifford, a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney, said financial investigators are going back several more years to determine how much money was stolen, though he could not speak further about the investigation.
The statute of limitations for a grand larceny charge is 10 years, Mr. Clifford said.
The longtime clerk allegedly took money from the bail fund, which was held separately from the rest of the court’s money, such as legal fees and fines collected.
Previous audits had not examined the bail fund because it was held “in trust” by the town justices, Mr. Russell said. He said that even if auditors had looked at that fund, it might have been difficult to notice money that went missing since it was never reported in the first place.
“Twenty-five hundred dollars here or there, the auditors are not going to catch that if it’s not being reported,” he said. “How do you audit cash you don’t know exists?”
Still, Mr. Russell said, audits conducted in 2010, 2011 and 2012 by AVZ Certified Public Accountants — the town’s external auditors — uncovered numerous and repeated examples of “poor record-keeping” within the courts.
Those audits had not focused on the justice court specifically, but instead examined compliance and procedures in all town departments.
But AVZ did identify some court-specific issues, including outstanding checks that were more than a year old, as well as monthly reports to the state that were late, according to copies of the audit provided to The Suffolk Times. Mr. Russell said these issues have been noted by auditors for years.
In the wake of the theft allegations, the Town Board has put Southold’s insurance company “on notice” that it will have to pay more than $50,000 to replenish the bail fund. In addition, the town will investigate any complaints of missing bail funds from defendants in the court.
Board members have also green-lighted an in-depth audit of the town’s court system, again conducted by AVZ. This audit, Mr. Russell said, would take a comprehensive look at all the workings of the justice court, from oversight and delineation of duties to all the courts funds, including bail money.
The town will also install security software in justice court computers within two weeks that will make it easier to track funds coming in and out of court accounts. The possible hiring of an administrator to track court funds without actually handling them is also under discussion.
“You can’t have one person in charge of everything,” Mr. Russell said. “There was no segmentation of duties there. I just met with Judge Price this morning. We’re going to reshape that office.”
Mr. Russell stressed that it was up to the justices to manage the bail fund, but said he was waiting for a full report from the district attorney’s office about how the money was stolen and over what time period.
“We need the DA to fill those gaps in knowledge,” he said. “We just don’t know … Those are issues we’re discussing now. Those are the answers we’re going to try to find.”
