Former county finance director arrested in Shelton on embezzlement charges

—Gordon Weeks photo, Shelton-Mason County Journal

Cinnamon Brown at a Shelton City Commission meeting last fall.

Cinnamon Brown, former Whitman County finance director, was arrested Feb. 15 in Shelton on charges of forgery, theft, financial fraud and electronic data theft. Brown left her post here Aug. 31, 2016, and subsequently was hired as finance director for the City of Shelton Sept. 6, 2016.

Brown, 33, was fired from that position just two months later on Nov. 14 due to poor job performance.

The allegations against Brown surfaced in January when the City of Shelton finance staff noticed an inconsistency pertaining to her final paycheck, according to a City of Shelton press release. The transaction, totaling $2,426.57, was able to be reversed once discovered, and the city staff contacted Shelton Police immediately. A fraud investigation began that day.

According to the press release, the city staff conducted an internal audit and discovered two more fraudulent checks totaling $4,632.07, which triggered further police investigation and Brown’s arrest two weeks ago.

The Shelton-Mason County Journal reported last week that Brown is accused of using a phone application to deposit the three paychecks into a bank account and then depositing those same checks at another bank for double deposits.

Shelton Police Chief Darrin Moody told the Gazette the department there has been in contact with Whitman County.

“We have been in contact with Whitman County as a courtesy,” he said, noting he was not aware of any ongoing criminal investigation here.

Brown began in her post as finance director for Whitman County in September of 2013. She started working for the county in 2008 in the environmental health department, then moved to public health until filling the role as finance director.

Sheriff Brett Myers said there is “certainly some concern” here given the Shelton allegations against Brown, but his department is not pursuing a criminal case here at this time.

“Somebody would have to discover there is a problem here first,” he said.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy said the county auditor’s office has begun reviewing Ms. Brown’s work.

Tracy called the review here prudent, given the audit woes the county has faced over the last several years.

“It’s clearly a very concerning situation when our finance director is later arrested for embezzlement at a different place,” he said.

The county has not passed a state audit in more than a decade, pre-dating Brown’s time in the finance position. The State Auditor’s Office has reported a lack of internal controls over county payroll processing, bank reconciliation processes, time sheets and financial reporting, among other things.

County Administrator Gary Petrovich noted Whitman County employs different systems than the City of Shelton did.

“I don’t believe there’s a great deal of areas that Cinnamon could have affected here,” he said. “We also have a different payroll system than the City of Shelton did.”

Shelton, up until January, used a paper deposit system for paychecks. The city has since converted to direct deposit for all employees. Whitman County has used direct deposit for more than 20 years.

“Eunice Coker and Sharron Cunningham have done some preliminary checks,” said County Commissioner Swannack. “We’ve all agreed that we haven’t found similar actions like the double depositing of checks.”

Swannack said Coker is contacting the State Auditor’s Office to be advised on how to proceed.

“We’ll be doing it due diligence. We figured we had to jump,” he said. “We’re on top of this one. It’s a big red flag.”

Coker told the Gazette that there is concern.

“We are concerned, but we also don’t have any indications that any crimes were committed here,” she said.

Coker said she and Cunningham, the county’s new finance director, have been looking for activity similar to what happened in Shelton, but nothing has turned up.

“We got onto that and found that didn’t happen here,” said Coker. “On the other hand, Cinnamon had extensive access to our financial systems and computer permissions.”

Tracy said the county’s audit issues may make the investigation difficult.

“It might complicate it more,” he said. “I’m not an expert in accounting.”

He also said there is no reason right now to say that Brown committed similar activities in her post here.

“As far as I know, I’m not aware of any evidence that Ms. Brown stole anything here,” he said.

Coker told the Gazette she had a conference call scheduled Wednesday, March 1, with the State Auditor’s Office.

“From here on out, we’re looking for the state auditor’s expertise,” said Coker. “We’re going to be asking their advice. We’ve never done this type of thing, and we’re going to be asking what they advise us to do.”

Coker noted it is possible that the State Auditor’s Office will send a fraud investigation team to perform an audit.

“We’ve realized that this has happened in another county, and we’re asking, ‘what else might have happened?’” said Coker.

Coker also noted that she is pleased with the work Cunningham has been doing to address the state auditor’s concerns over lack of internal controls. She said the work Cunningham has done has helped already in this investigation.

“I was quite pleased when the Shelton Police called us last week to let us know what was happening. They gave us a heads up, and we started looking into it,” said Coker. “We were able to right away determine that the same thing didn’t happen here. We’re improving. I’m pretty pleased with that.”

Coker also said she is not sure on a timeline for the complete investigation, but she noted she would know more once she had spoken with the State Auditor’s Office.

Brown first appeared in Mason County Superior Court Feb. 16, the morning after her arrest at her home. According to the Shelton-Mason County Journal, the state had recommended she be held on $5,000 bail, but she was released on her own recognizance, with Judge Daniel Goodell noting that she had no criminal history and had five children at home.

Brown accepted the services of a public defender.

Brown’s arraignment was Monday, and she pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Her trial has been set to begin May 16.