Comptroller: Missing taxpayer money now accounted for | News

(WMC-TV) – Across Tennessee, county officials say about $700,000 in money stolen from government coffers was still unaccounted for.

“These thefts are a reminder that local government officials need to be vigilant about the potential that taxpayer dollars can be stolen,” Tennessee Comptroller Justin P. Wilson said in a written statement.

However, the comptroller’s report wasn’t all bad news.

Tipton County officials reported in 2007 that about $4,300 had been pilfered from the county executive’s office. But this year, the comptroller reported that all of the money had been accounted for.

“The best safeguard against theft of public funds is the use of proper accounting and bookkeeping techniques,” Wilson said. “Quite often, county government officials believe there’s no way theft would occur within their organizations – then they are shocked when it does. As the old expression goes, ‘trust, but verify.’”

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