Audit Urges Trustee System Safeguards : Confidential Report Says County Gives Officers Too Much Power

A confidential audit prompted by allegations that two county workers stole money from estates of the dead has found what it calls a lack of safeguards against thefts and cover-ups in the county trustee system.

The audit by Chief Accountant-Auditor Patrick McMahon, obtained by UPI, concluded that trust officers who investigate thousands of estates each year are given too much power without a secure way to check their work.

“This could allow (trust officers) to take money from estates and cover up the theft,” the audit said.

The audit also found that the Public Administrator-Public Guardian’s Office--the largest in the nation--failed to properly destroy blank checks or to freeze credit cards and bank accounts as required by county regulations. It further showed that files containing sensitive financial materials, such as checks and credit cards, have not been restricted to personnel assigned to individual estates.

The Public Administrator-Public Guardian’s Office handles personal and financial affairs of the elderly or infirm who have no family or friends willing to care for them. It also investigates the financial affairs of those who die without wills, helping sort out their estates.

A spokeswoman for the office said it is now adding some safeguards, such as more detailed reporting of financial materials, that were recommended in the audit.

Tightening Up Controls

“We worked very closely with the auditor and yes, we are tightening up controls,” said Assistant Public Administrator Ilona Bryman.

The audit, dated July 24, was prompted by two cases involving longtime employees accused of stealing money from the estates of deceased people whose financial affairs were being handled by the agency.

Sandra Frazier, 41, a clerk-typist who had worked for the department for more than seven years, pleaded guilty in June to the felony grand theft of $6,000 last year from one estate, prosecutor James Koller said. She was scheduled for sentencing Aug. 29. Koller said Frazier, who has since resigned, took money from the account of a deceased person and then altered records to cover it up.

A second employee, Cornell Cleveland, 36, a deputy public conservator-administrator, is accused of using an automated teller card to withdraw money from the account of a deceased person whose financial affairs he was investigating. Cleveland has since been suspended without pay from his post, a department spokesman said.

Bryman said the department is now handling 4,900 such estates.