Former Clerk accepts plea, owes Dawson $25,000-plus

    A former Village of Dawson Clerk who altered 21 checks totaling $26,611.74 and used Village funds to pay personal bills was originally charged with six felony forgery counts in Richardson County District Court, but now faces just one after reaching an agreement with the County Attorney’s Office.
    Jennifer L. Stutheit, 32, of Humboldt, last Tuesday pled guilty to second degree forgery, a Class III Felony, and in exchange prosecutors dropped four similar counts, as well as a fifth, second degree forgery, a Class IV Felony. She will appear back in Court May 3 for sentencing.
    On the surface, it would appear Stutheit received the deal of a lifetime, as a Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts report alleged the former Village employee between Oct. 1, 2013 and April 20, 2015 used public funds as her personal ATM by racking up $27,798.50 in total fraudulent charges.
    Though nothing is official until the judge hands down a sentence, Assistant Richardson County Attorney Zach Blackman said terms of the agreement include repayment of more than $25,000 to the Village of Dawson. Stutheit allegedly signed a confession dated April 21, 2015, admitting to altering bank statements and using Village funds to pay for her personal NPPD bills. She was fired from the position last spring.  
    Village Board Chair Bill Koch said Monday he was “glad they’re going after restitution,” but that the Village of Dawson incurred a $15,000 bill from the APA for conducting the audit, thus is out about $40,000 from the ordeal.
    “I think the county’s judicial system should’ve done more for us,” he said. “We were victimized and we’re not really satisfied with how the system handled this.”
    Koch said he will serve out the remaining two years of his term, but does not plan to run for the office again.
    Other members of the Village Board during the audit period included Charles Laux, Roger Goos, Phil Fisher, Jim Nincehelser and Brian Johnson.
    In its report, the APA “identified a significant number of  financial  transactions  from the  Village  that  are highly questionable and could be fraudulent,” including:
    – 21unauthorized payments totaling $26,611.74 to the former Clerk, who “appears to have altered the copies of the checks included on the bank statements in an effort to conceal that these checks were made payable to her.”
    -Three personal electricity payments totaling $832.26 to NPPD.
    -$100 in water deposits not deposited in the Village account.
    -A $154.50 money order not paid to a vendor.
    The APA report also had a harsh assessment for the Village Board, noting “the  Village’s  control  environment  was  not  conducive  to  fair  and  complete financial statements.”
    The  Board, according to the Auditor, “failed  to  monitor properly  the  financial  activity of the Village to ensure the accuracy and completeness of its financial records, failed  to  maintain  adequate  supporting documentation for a number of transactions,” making $66,746.71 in   payments   with   no   documentation   or   inadequate   documentation to support the expense, failed to comply with the Record Management Act and Open Meetings Act.
    The Auditor’s Office recommend  the  Board  implement  proper  monitoring and controls over the Village’s finances, including the following:
    •Performing a periodic review of  the Village’s accounting records compared to its bank statements to ensure their agreement and that there are  no unauthorized uses of  Village funds.
    •Conducting an adequate review    of    the    documentation    supporting all claims presented to the Board for approval.
    •Ensuring all claims against  the Village  are  presented  properly to the Board for approval by comparing the claims presented to the actual bank statements.
    •Implementing procedures to  ensure  all  amounts  received  from  residents are properly deposited to the Village’s bank accounts.   
    •Ensuring  all  claims are  properly  paid by  warrant,  as  required  
by statute.
    •Determining  whether a petty cash fund is  needed and, if  so, officially approving the amount   in   a Board meeting and implementing   procedures to   review   the   documentation to support purchases made from the fund.
    Janis Richardson was appointed Clerk in June 2015 and the necessary changes have been implemented, Koch said. The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office is not investigating the Village, contrary to various reports.
    “Please  be  assured that we are working towards making the corrections and implementing any and  all  changes  outlined  in  your  draft  attestation,” they replied to the Auditor’s Office in a statement.