BUFFALO, Iowa — The former deputy city clerk was convicted of ongoing criminal conduct and first degree theft.
According to Scott County Court records a jury returned a verdict of guilty after Riki Harrington was accused of misappropriating $44,000 over the course of three years.
The trial lasted from Monday, March 8 through Thursday, March 11.
According to previous reports, Auditor of State Rob Sand said the money was either not deposited, improperly disbursed, or was not properly documented in the City of Buffalo.
This happened between April of 2015 to August of 2018.
The city clerk discovered something was amiss in 2018 when preparing for the city's annual exam, according to the report. It was discovered that the collections recorded for fines from Scott County in Fiscal Year 2018 added up to about half of that which was received in previous years.
Harrington is set to be sentenced on Thursday, May 6 at 9 a.m.
Here's the breakdown of what the audit uncovered, which was released in April of 2020:
- $42,390.21 in undeposited collections
- $28, 039.42 worth of checks substituted for cash collections recorded in the city's accounting system but not deposited to the city's bank account
- $5,079.13 of payments posted to utility customers' accounts which weren't recorded on daily receipt listing or deposited into the city's account
- $3,600 of security deposits for utility services recorded in the city's accounting system but not deposited into the city's account
- $2,641 of city feeds recorded into the accounting system but not deposited into the city's bank account
- $773.77 improper disbursements
- $488.68 of various credit card fees paid by the city
- $75.78 unauthorized payroll disbursements issued to Harrington and the related city share of the payroll costs
- $209.31 of late and interest fees to IPERS
- $841.52 unsupported disbursements
- $673.50 of purchases on the city's credit card that couldn't be determined
- $168.02 of checks issued from the city's checking account for petty cash replenishment and they couldn't find supporting documentation.
