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Former secretary accused of paying self thousands |
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Written by Voice Staff report
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Friday, 27 November 2009 |
A former employee of the County Attorney’s office has been indicted this week on charges she used payroll accounts to illegally obtained thousands she was not entitled to.
A former employee of the County Attorney’s office has been indicted this week on charges she used payroll accounts to illegally obtained thousands she was not entitled to.
Alice Faye Cash was the subject of two separate indictments returned Monday, one accusing her of theft by unlawful taking (13 counts) and the other charging her with 49 counts of second-degree forgery. Both indictments also charge Cash with abuse of public trust over $10,000, but less than $100,000.
The indictments are the result of an investigation managed by Billy Correll, Kentucky State Police Detective and Wayne Hedgespeth, Jr., Kentucky Office of the Inspector General, in conjunction with County Attorney Michele Wilson. Correll said he began investigation into the matter on July 31 after Wilson drew questions to accounts managed by the office.
Apparently, Cash served as the office secretary, but also managed programs and funds relative to the local cold check and child support program. Correll said Cash’s employment in the office was terminated once his initial findings were reported to Wilson late this summer. Correll and Hedgespeth took the case to the grand jury last week and obtained the indictments this week.
“Right now I can’t really comment on the particulars of the case, but additional details will be made available to the public if or when the case goes to trial,” Correll told The Voice.
Wilson released a statement from her office Monday regarding the case. Wilson said “this has been an extremely difficult situation…personally as well as professionally.”
“On a personal level, I have worked with Mrs. Cash for my entire legal career. Anytime you work with someone on a daily basis, it is difficult when something like this occurs,” Wilson said in the statement.
Cash worked in the office under County Attorney Phil Chaney and according to Wilson, served the judicial system for over 20 years. When Chaney retired late last year, Cash’s employment continued when Wilson took over the office. Wilson has since hired a new secretary and made changes to programs in the office subject to abuse.
“We are a public office and we should hold the public’s trust,” Wilson said in the released statement. “I am taking many measures to see that a situation like this does not repeat itself.”
Though indictments do lack details; the first indictment, presented by Correll, charges that Cash “issued to herself an additional payroll check,” on 13 occasions between the dates of March 15, 2007 and May 5, 2009. On all but one occasion she was accused of unlawfully obtaining more than $1,000 for a total of $18,746.71.
The second indictment, presented by Hedgespeth, through all 49 counts, allege the illegal activity took place between July 2005 and July 2009. On each of those 49 occasions, Cash is accused of second-degree forgery when “she falsely made and completed her personal payroll record which wrongfully increased her salary in an amount in excess of $500, but less than $10,000.” Exact monetary totals were not listed in that indictment.
Each indictment also charges Cash with abuse of public trust when she “obtained public money subject to a known legal obligation to make specified payment and she dealt with the money as her own.”
Correll told The Voice Monday Cash has not yet been served with the indictments.
The Voice would like to remind our readers that an indictment is not an indication of one’s guilt or innocence in a matter, but merely represents enough evidence exists to pursue a case further in a court of law.
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