Allegations of Graft Sparks Investigation
JPD Reported to be Probing County
By Gil Brady, 9-07-07
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JACKSON, Wyo. – Police confirmed today they’re investigating an alleged embezzling scam involving the county office of “lien and title”.
“I was shocked to learn that a trusted employee was suspected of embezzling funds,” Teton County Clerk Sherry Daigle said in an official press release Friday.
Jackson detectives reported targeting a local government employee who “was (allegedly) over charging customers and converting the fraudulently gained funds into her personal use.”
Her face flushed behind her desk, Daigle said late Friday that a county employee had been fired earlier today. Due to the ongoing corruption probe, however, she declined to identify that person. But an official close to the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they believed the scandal involved only one county worker.
During their undercover sting, police said they secured “multiple search warrants” and conducted covert video surveillance “into the clerk’s office” to “either sustain or deny the larceny allegations.”
Sgt. Scott Terry of the Jackson Police Department, who is supervising the case, praised Daigle in a news bulletin for being “instrumental to helping detectives uncover the truth surrounding the allegations and stopping any further loss.”
Town and county officials have been tight-lipped about releasing further details at this time. However, Daigle asked that anyone who believed they may have been taken by the alleged bunco operation, purported to have originated in the county office of lien and title, to come forward.
In a prepared statement, Daigle added, “I ensure the citizens of Teton County that I will do my utmost to make whole those who have been victimized and build safeguards into my internal systems to prevent this or other breaches of public faith from occurring in the future.”
Police and jail booking logs indicated no charges or arrests related to the ongoing probe into public graft having been made as of 4 p.m. Friday.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Jackson Police Department at (307) 733.1430, or dispatch at (307) 733.2331, and ask for Det. Brandon Cunningham.
For more on this story, click here and read today’s Jackson Hole News & Guide
XTRA, XTRA!!!
*This is not the first time in recent history that scandal and well-founded allegations of graft, patronage, cronyism and public corruption have rocked the halls of Teton County. (- Ed)
Click here, here, & here to read 3 original Cowboy Picayune-Sunny Times investigative reports going back to last summer.
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