{"id":15685,"date":"2016-10-11T09:55:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-11T13:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=15685"},"modified":"2016-10-11T09:58:49","modified_gmt":"2016-10-11T13:58:49","slug":"owed-for-theft-6263-former-paulding-county-deputy-auditor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/owed-for-theft-6263-former-paulding-county-deputy-auditor\/","title":{"rendered":"Owes for Theft $6,263 — Former Paulding County Deputy Auditor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sheriff<\/a>Columbus<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 A former Paulding County deputy auditor who pleaded guilty to theft in office in September owes the county $6,263, according to an audit released today by Auditor of State Dave Yost.<\/p>\n

The audit found instances where former Deputy Auditor\u00a0Mereidith\u00a0Davis cashed customer checks at the county treasurer\u2019s office and\/or removed cash for personal use. Auditors identified $5,228 in conveyance fees that were collected but never submitted to the county treasurer or deposited into the county bank account.<\/p>\n

\u201cStealing tax dollars is a bad idea to begin with,\u201d Auditor Yost said, \u201cbut stealing them from a county auditor is just plain stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The audit also noted three instances where Davis incorrectly processed warranty deeds as exempt deeds. Exempt deeds are only assessed a transfer fee, while warranty deeds are also assessed a conveyance fee. As a result, Davis collected $1,035 in conveyance fees but never submitted the funds to the county treasurer.<\/p>\n

A $6,263 finding for recovery was issued against Davis. On Sept. 13, 2016, she pleaded guilty to a fifth-degree felony charge of theft in office. A sentencing hearing is scheduled today at 10:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

A full copy of this report is available\u00a0online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Columbus\u00a0\u2013 A former Paulding County deputy auditor who pleaded guilty to theft in office in September owes the county $6,263,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[1855,6104,12,59],"class_list":["post-15685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-legal","tag-auditor","tag-guilty","tag-ohio","tag-paulding"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t