Tag: Tennessee Comptroller’s Office

The former president of Cumberland Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Organization in Nashville stole nearly $18,000 from the school, according to a new audit from the Tennessee Comptrollers’ Office. This year the Davidson County Grand Jury indicted that man, LaRon Bridgeforth, on one count of theft over $10,000, auditors wrote. “The investigation began after the Metro Nashville Public Schools audit department reported questionable transactions in the PTO bank records. After the discovery of these transactions, Cumberland Elementary PTO operations were suspended,” according to a press release from the Comptrollers’ Office. Bridgeforth, auditors went on to say, stole at least $17,724.80 over a two-year period beginning in October 2014. “The majority of the cash ($17,025) was withdrawn from the PTO bank account and kept by Bridgeforth for his personal use. In one instance, he withdrew $1,000 while vacationing with his family in Florida,” the audit said. “Bridgeforth also used nearly $700 of the PTO’s money to purchase at least two gift cards. These gift cards were also used for his personal benefit.” In a statement Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson said state law requires school support organizations, such as PTOs, safeguard its finances. “In this situation, more oversight was needed,” Wilson said. “This…

The director of the Perry County Rescue Squad may have received more than $60,000 in pay to which he wasn’t entitled, according to a new audit from the Tennessee Comptrollers’ Office. According to the audit, the director, whose named Comptrollers did not mention, got a lot more than his regular 40 hour per week salary. No one at the Perry County Mayor’s Office respond to The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment. Comptrollers, however, had plenty to say in their report. “Although the Perry County Commission authorized the director to collect payment for any hours over 40 that he worked, records were insufficient to determine if he worked all of the hours he reported, and the director’s hours were not reviewed or approved by the county mayor prior to payment,” according to the audit. The director collected this extra money between 2015 and 2017. During this time, he said he worked on average an additional 53.2 hours per week for total payments of $30,475.75, the audit said. The 40-hours per week for his salaried position and the average of 53.2 hours per week of additional time, auditors wrote, equaled more than two full-time jobs — or 93.2 hours. “Investigators were…

The folks who run the Tennessee State Veterans’ Home and its four facilities didn’t do enough background checks before hiring staff members, according to a new report from the Tennessee Comptrollers’ office. They also didn’t do enough to address residents’ complaints, and they failed to report illegal conduct at the facility, auditors went on to say. These were among only a few of the findings Comptrollers reported in a lengthy and detailed audit. The TSVH have four locations for veterans in Clarksville, Humboldt, Knoxville, and Murfreesboro. In an email, TSVH Executive Director Ed Harries told The Tennessee Star he and other administrators have an action plan to do better. Regardless, Comptrollers said there is a lot of room for improvement. “Our audit work revealed that during the period January 1, 2015, through June 1, 2018, Tennessee State Veterans’ Homes Board management did not notify our office of at least three instances of possible unlawful conduct regarding administrative matters in a reasonable amount of time,” Comptrollers wrote. Auditors, though, did not specify what types of illegal conduct took place. TSVH officials also did not check all employees for criminal backgrounds. They did not check them for abuse registry or sex offender…