Internal audit now ‘ongoing’ following arrest

When Whitman County Auditor Eunice Coker received a call from the Shelton Police Department two weeks ago and was informed that former county Finance Director Cinnamon Brown had been arrested in Shelton on embezzlement charges, she was both surprised and nervous.

“At first, I wasn’t real calm,” said Coker.

Coker Tuesday advised county commissioners an internal audit investigation has been launched here to see if any fraud was committed here during Brown’s three-year stint as finance director.

So far they have not found anything, the auditor reported.

Brown was first employed by the county in 2008 in the environmental health department before moving to public health and then named finance director in 2013.

Coker reported she spoke with the state auditor’s office Wednesday, March 1, via telephone, and they advised her to check off on the local review in two months. She said the state office would likely send a team to investigate if something turns up in the review, which is now underway.

Sheriff Brett Myers told the Gazette last week that no criminal case is being pursued against Brown here, but if something was to come to light, a case would be pursued. Coker said the state auditor’s office is taking the same approach.

Coker said the auditor’s office has given the county a checklist of areas to investigate and how to investigate them.

Commissioner Art Swannack, in the commissioners meeting Monday, said the investigation is ongoing, but not all processes involved will be made public.

“Some of that stuff you don’t want to tell people how you search to find fraud,” he commented.

Coker and Sharron Cunningham, finance director since September, are now checking credit card receipts, vendor accounts and employee profiles.

Brown, 33, was employed as finance director here from September of 2013 to August of 2016. She left the post here and was subsequently hired as finance director for the City of Shelton on Sept. 6, 2016.

She was fired from that position on Nov. 14, 2016, due to poor job performance.

In January, Shelton city staff noticed an inconsistency with Brown’s final paycheck.

Brown allegedly double cashed the paycheck by first depositing it with a mobile banking application and then depositing it in its paper form at another financial institution.

When an investigation was launched in Shelton, two more double cashed paychecks were allegedly discovered, and Brown was arrested at her home in Hoquiam Feb. 15 and subsequently charged with two counts of forgery, two counts of theft in the second degree, two counts of electronic data theft and one count of financial fraud.

She entered not guilty pleas on all charges, and her trial has been set to begin May 16 in Mason County Superior Court.

Coker said the state auditor’s office may take a closer look at the county’s year-end report, which is due in May.

“They may take a closer look at this potential fraud issue in our audit this year,” she said. “It is all coming to this May, June time frame.”

Prosector Denis Tracy last week told the Gazette the charges against Brown in Mason County were “very concerning” for the county here. Tracy was also present at the meeting Tuesday. He asked Coker if there was a specific list of things to be investigated, to which she replied yes, and if the auditor’s office here had the “qualifications to do those checks.”

“Yes, absolutely,” Coker replied.

Commissioner Swannack asked Coker to schedule a time to update the commissioners on the status of the investigation.

“Unless something immediately comes to your attention,” said County Administrator Gary Petrovich.

Coker agreed to keep the commissioners informed of the status of the investigation.