FOR RELEASE:

Comptroller’s Investigation Details Extensive Wrongdoing Of Schroeppel Highway Superintendent

Report Leads to Arrest, Also Criticizes Town Board for Lax Oversight

A town highway superintendent who allegedly submitted false vouchers, forged documents, misappropriated town equipment and material for personal use and had town employees do work on his home – and retaliated against those who worked to expose his malfeasance – was arrested yesterday by the Office of the New York State Attorney General, following an extensive investigation by the Office of the State Comptroller’s Division of Investigations, Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi said today.

Scott Prior, highway superintendent in the southern Oswego County town of Schroeppel (pronounced “scruple”), was arrested yesterday and charged with multiple counts of larceny, fraud, and official misconduct.

“Our investigators found fraud, forgery and extensive additional malfeasance,” Hevesi said. “But it was the lack of controls and lax oversight by the town board that allowed this to happen, so the board members should recognize the role they must play in the future in order to prevent a recurrence of this deplorable situation.”

“We are grateful to the individuals that brought this matter to our attention, and to the series of articles that appeared last fall in the Fulton Valley News,” Hevesi added. “After an initial assessment by our Local Government Services and Economic Development unit, the Investigations Division began to look into these serious allegations, and ultimately found that what we were dealing with here went beyond mismanagement or waste, that we were dealing with criminal allegations.”

The OSC report details a range of inappropriate actions by Prior including:

• Using falsified vouchers and forged documents to collect $4,550 from the town for stump grinding services that he never provided.
• Obtaining nearly $3,400 worth of equipment parts paid for by the town but used for equipment he owned, and then instructing employees to state that the parts had been used for town-owned equipment.
• Taking town fuel valued at approximately $1,100 for personal use and wood cut from town property valued at approximately $960 for use at his home.
• Ordering town employees to do home improvement projects at his home and to cut wood and deliver it to his residence.

“As reprehensible as Prior’s actions were, what he did to employees who helped to expose his conduct is equally disturbing. He fired one employee who made a complaint against him, even though he did not have the right to do so, and demoted another because he believed that employee was talking with our investigators,” Hevesi said.

Investigators found that the Schroeppel Highway Department had “virtually no functioning system of internal controls,” and also stated that the town board members appeared to show an “institutional insensitivity to the potential for corruption.” Investigators noted that in January, 2004, after board members had been made aware that Prior was under investigation, they nevertheless appointed him to head the town Building and Grounds department, which gave him authority over a second departmental budget in the town.

The Office of Attorney General Spitzer was alerted to OSC’s findings and conducted its own independent investigation. “I want to thank the Attorney General and his staff for working with the Investigations Division, and look forward to continuing alliances with law enforcement authorities at the local and state level to expose and prosecute fraud and corrupt practices,” Hevesi said.

The OSC report called on town officials to increase monitoring of procurement and disbursements by the Highway Department as well as other departments – including verification that all appropriate documentation is maintained and reviewed on a regular basis – and to strengthen policies and procedures for dealing with employee complaints.

“We expect that town officials will take action now to address our recommendations, and we will be back in Schroeppel within the year to conduct an audit to determine how much progress they have made,” Hevesi said.

Click Here for a Copy of the Investigation Report.

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Albany Phone: (518) 474-4015  Fax:(518) 473-8940
NYC Phone: (212) 681-4825  Fax:(212) 681-4468
Internet: http://www.osc.state.ny.us
E-Mail:press@osc.state.ny.us