Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Feds Charge Former Center Township Trustee's CFO With Stealing More Than $340,000

Alan Mizen
The former chief financial officer for the Center Township Trustee's Office in Marion County for more than a decade, Alan Mizen, has been charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Indianapolis with stealing more than $340,000 from the township through an elaborate computer-generated invoice scheme to make it appear that payments being made to him were actually being made to the Indiana State Treasurer's Office. The IBJ has more details on how the scheme worked:
The complaint alleges that Mizen set up an account with PNC Bank and deposited a check in the amount of $343,541.08 drawn from public funds. He then used the computerized accounting system at the Center Township office to create a false invoice indicating that he had written the check to the “Treasurer of State,” the complaint said.
Mizen proceeded to transfer the funds he deposited into personal accounts, using $200,000 to help purchase a $500,000 home in Zionsville, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He also purchased a 2009 Toyota Tacoma pickup, spent $14,274.89 to help fund his child’s college education and bought a diamond necklace and diamond ring totaling $8,900 during a trip to the Cayman Islands, the complaint said.
The pickup and jewelry has been seized, and a notice filed with Boone County officials prohibiting him from transferring his interest in the home until the criminal case is resolved.
More than $385,000 has been recovered from an investment account to repay the trustee’s office, said Brad Blackington, a senior lawyer at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, who is prosecuting the case.
Blackington said the office doubts that anyone else at the trustee’s office is involved in the theft.
A State Board of Accounts' audit report issued more than two years ago first raised questions about whether Mizen and other township employees had been overpaid. Former Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer, who ran the office at the time the theft began, took a swipe at the auditors in a response he made concerning their findings at the time. Drummer, who is now a lobbyist for Ice Miller, suggested that the State Board of Accounts was being "overzealous" and implied that the agency was being vindictive for hiring Mizen away from its office to work for his office. As this blog reported on his response at the time:
"Generally, I applaud the SBOA for working for working around the state to reduce the rampant nepotism and self-dealing that occurs in some local governments," Drummer wrote. But he then went on to complain that he thought the agency had a tendency to abuse its authority "by overzealous prosecution of matters." Drummer essentially pleaded ignorance to all of the report's finding, claiming that he didn't have access to any of the documents necessary to respond to them. Ironically, Drummer said he hired Mizen away from the SBOA to make sure that his office's finances were "handled by someone expert in SBOA rules and processes." Drummer then grew very defensive, worrying that he might be held strictly liable for potential errors that he . . . could not reasonably detect." He then worried about the report's impact on his reputation. "In the public's view, my reputation will be tarnished by the mere publication of this report." Apparently Drummer is oblivious to his poor reputation that he accumulated during his tenure as Center Township Trustee. He continued, "The SBOA's report belies these efforts and does a disservice to both myself and many others who worked tirelessly to provide a valuable  service to the public."
The federal theft and embezzlement charges with which Mizen is charged carry a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison according to the IBJ. News reports don't indicate whether there is any possibility of others being charged.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my ....Zionsville in the news again. Superb...Was his position an elected one or placement...He didn't have to be a Marion County Resident...Please advise.
Also, keep an eye on the auto and jewelry and house...And bank accounts...Dig deeper on matters in Zionsville and Boone County.

Anonymous said...

Surprised? Not!

Anonymous said...

Corruption in the (D) Center Township Trustee office goes back for years.

If only the State Legislature would take up the Recommendations of the Commission on Local Government Reform and eliminate Township government statewide. Township government is where we constantly see corruption, nepotism, pay-to-play politics at an excessive cost to taxpayers.

Eliminate Township government in Indiana, there is no reason to keep it.

Gary R. Welsh said...

The corruption in the consolidated city of Indianapolis is more widespread and on a much grander scale than what is transpiring in the Center Township Trustee's Office. I'm surprised that of all the people in the Center Township Trustee's Office who could have been charged with a crime they've only charged the former CFO. The feds must not have been looking for more than what the State Board of Accounts served them up on a silver platter.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, why wasn't this Marion County employee living in Marion County?

Gary, are you saying that the State found this and not the Marion County Auditor?

Who's watching the books in Marion County?

And why was he drawing a $97K salary?

Gary R. Welsh said...

The Marion County Auditor has nothing to do with reviewing the payroll of the Center Township Trustee's Office. I'm not sure there is a residency rule for township employees. The City of Indianapolis certainly doesn't enforce one.

Anonymous said...

Lots of stuff you don't know Gary ...or didn't listen too...
"Citizens are owed integrity at all levels of government," FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Lyons said.

"The message of this office has been consistent over the last two years, but bears repeating today: it doesn't matter what your politics are or what position you hold in our community," Hogsett said. "If you do not uphold the public trust, our Public Integrity Working Group will find you, investigate you and the U.S. Attorney's Office will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."

Anonymous said...

More than a decade of stealing..Who knew what when...A decade is a long time for disclosure and more..Ponder that...and dig deeper...With Zionsville connections and Boone County and Marion County knowing of events...Really...a decade...so covered up...

Anonymous said...

Embezzled money is also considered taxable income. So now he's also got an IRS problem to deal with.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see the DOJ Public Integrity Working Group investigate the corruption in the Regional Operations Center deals, grants, and the millions of dollars involved. It's taxpayer money at local and federal levels that went into this in various ways.

Anonymous said...

Looks like the Democrats should be worried and also in Washington Township as well.Just shows how dirty the whole system is and how did Drummer go to a big Law Firm. I tell you these days who can you trust. To me it seems like even the Democrats are dirty and liars, however they just have powerful people to back them up and hide their dirt. Glad I am a Tea Party member. Both sides are so dirty and it takes years to catch them.And then people want to know why no one trust them. And at this point why should we.

Marycatherine Barton said...

It is about time that Mizen was charged. Good for Hogsett!!

Anonymous said...

Dig deeper of appointments and selections of direction...