Louisiana Legislative Auditor
Daryl G. Purpera, CPA, CFE

February 16, 2015

City of Eunice

The City of Eunice’s untimely preparation of bank reconciliations resulted in the loss of $5,571in fraudulent check activity, according to an audit report issued Monday by Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera’s office.

The audit, performed by the accounting firm of Vige, Tujague and Noel of Eunice, covered the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014.

The delay in performing bank reconciliations enabled the fraudulent activity, due to out-of-state identity theft, to occur and not be identified in a timely manner. “If the bank accounts were reconciled as the statements were received, the fraudulent activity would have been detected early on, and the bank would have refunded the money,” the report for the state auditor said.

The City Clerk contacted the local sheriff’s department on August 22, 2014, when the fraudulent activity was discovered. The sheriff department followed up with the stores where the “checks were issued but was unable to get any additional information, due to time constraints,” the report said.

According to the report, “the matter is still under investigation by the sheriff’s office; however, the chances of recovering the funds are minimal.”

The City also failed to notify the District Attorney and the Legislative Auditor of the misappropriation, as required by law.

Eunice 2014 Release.pdf

For more information contact:

Legislative Auditor
225.339.3800



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Office of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor | www.LLA.La.gov