Alleged financial irregularities at conservation district probed
POTTSVILLE — Elizabeth Hinkel wants people to know the Schuylkill Conservation District has nothing to hide with respect to a probe of alleged financial irregularities in the agency.
“The conservation district wants to be open about the situation,” Hinkel, the agency’s district manager, said Thursday.
Furthermore, she and the district’s board of directors said in a statement Tuesday that they always have tried to keep the county informed about their finances.
County Controller Christy Joy announced June 12 that state police are investigating the district concerning alleged financial irregularities involving accounting and internal controls.
No charges have been filed and the investigation is continuing.
Hinkel said Thursday that the district has refrained from saying anything in order not to interfere with the investigation.
She also said the money allegedly involved appears to be district-administered, meaning funds provided by the state and federal governments, not the county.
Authorities have not been able to say how much, if any, money has been taken.
In Tuesday’s statement, the district said Hinkel and another unidentified staff member were reviewing files May 30 when they discovered what appeared to be fraudulent signatures in folders that appeared to document fraudulent activity. Hinkel reviewed this information, along with bank statements and canceled checks, and contacted County Administrator Mark J. Scarbinsky that day.
The district said Hinkel met with county officials June 2, the day state police were contacted. She met with police June 4, the day Joy requested a copy of the 2012 audit report and sent the controller that copy June 5, according to the district.
Joy has said the alleged embezzlement would have been prevented if the district had properly addressed concerns raised in the 2012 audit report.