Rocky Ripple is a hopelessly twee hamlet of some 300 homes just across the canal from the Broad Ripple area where I live. It is isolated from the rest of the city by the fact that it can only be accessed via two bridges over the canal, but the canal couldn't keep the little thorpe isolated from modern scandals. Apparently the secretary-treasurer of the tiny burg, one 79-year-old Margaret Jansen, is accused of embezzling as much as a quarter of the town's operating budget over the last year.
Town officials are mum about whether the entire missing sum was spent on a 2-year subscription to Cat Fancy, or whether some of the funds were diverted to purchase Mister Ruffles a catnip mouse from the local PetSmart.
Hate to say it, because I have friends who grew up in the Ripple (one still lives there, in fact), but this is a perfect example of why these little autonomous towns shouldn't be allowed to exist within the City of Indianapolis.
ReplyDeleteDid the Town of Rocky Ripple never hear of annual, independent audits?
Any excuse to use the word twee, huh?
ReplyDeleteBut, but, she only took $3 to buy stamps!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, many small towns haven't the budget for professional audits. Some have a local CPA review the books, pro bono and publish the results in the local paper.
Some oversight is required for competency.
WV: abooke
Yes, I have many bookes. Thousands actually.
In my reporter days, I saw this kind of thing a couple of time, e.g., at a rural water district.
ReplyDeleteWhile the mostly male governing board wrangled and voted, there was a middle-aged or older female secretary who had been there for years, did everything, knew all the systems -- and was quietly embezzling thousands of dollars.
As Crucis said, not enough oversight.
My odds are on a Vosges Chocolate Catnip Bar purchased from Fresh Market as they crossed the Bridge on the River Tie-dye under the cover of darkness.
ReplyDeleteBet she has a secret gambling habit. An significant number of embezzlement cases are motivating by gambling addiction.
ReplyDeletefor a minute there i thought this post was going to be about opie and andy doing that promo for the o...ron howard was on leno last night and they played that sickening obamination.
ReplyDeleteone should not view one's childhood icons in real life.
jtc
word ver: lyinglyi...yep.
well, she wasn't spending it on makeup and designer specs, that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteword ver: catica
Hey, up here in the little town of Sandwich, MA the Russian mafia has hacked the town's finances and made of with thousands of taxpayer dollars.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this "Margaret Jansen" (if that *is* her real name) is a front (wo)man for the Russian mob?
Careful with that snark Eugene...
My favorite Russian mafia story comes from Atlantic City. The gangsters had reprogrammed the ATMs in at least one of the casinos so that the card number and the PIN printed on the receipt. They then placed a wastebasket conveniently next to the ATM. All they had to do was collect the receipts at the end of the day and they were all set for some major card fraud.
ReplyDelete