Ex-Director of Fenton Housing Authority Converted $34,105 in Agency Checks to Personal Use

An investigation into the operations of the Housing Authority of the Village of Fenton found that the former executive director took $34,105 in Authority money between March 31 and September 20, 2017, the Legislative Auditor said in a report released today.

Investigative auditors found that Gwen Jackson wrote 52 unauthorized checks totaling $34,105, which she negotiated and then kept the money for herself.

The LLA began its investigation after the Authority’s board chairman notified the office that Ms. Jackson had issued the unauthorized checks, the state auditor said.

Auditors found that Ms. Jackson issued 47 unauthorized checks totaling $31,068 between March 31 and July 20, 2017. Fifteen of those checks were payable to Ms. Jackson, 12 to her husband, 10 to other Authority employees, nine to petty cash, and one to her cousin. Ms. Jackson negotiated each of the checks and retained the proceeds for her own use.

After a meeting with auditors in July, during which she admitted issuing and keeping the 47 checks, Ms. Jackson issued five more unauthorized checks to herself totaling $3,038. She resigned from her job after being confronted by two Authority board members about the later checks.