Missing funds in Savona
BY MARY PERHAM THE LEADER

SAVONA - Savona officials may request a criminal investigation in to allegations by the state Comptroller that more

than $4,000 was stolen from village court financial accounts.

In a report issued this month, auditors reported a shortage of $4,920 in deposits made between April 24, 2004 and May 17, 2006. The audit indicated at least $4,468 in cash was missing from court funds and the remainder could not be traced.

"(We) conclude that court personnel had deposited unrecorded money orders in place of cash collections in order to conceal the theft of the $4,468," the report states.

Total deposits to court accounts during the period amounted to $280,500, according to the audit.

The report is sharply critical of lax oversight by village officials and in adequate financial reporting by the village justice, Betty Andrukat Daw.

Another significant flaw in village practices was the hiring of three court clerks during the two-year period, including an unidentified woman convicted of petit larceny in another court in 1998.

"The justice was aware of the petit larceny conviction at the time she hired (the clerk)," the report said.

Daw, now using her maiden name, Andrukat, was also singled out in the audit for using the funds collected by the court to cash personal checks.

Andrukat could not be reached for comment Wednesday and still serves as village justice.

The lack of the court 's accountability became a sore and combative subject during village board meetings two years ago, with village officials insisting Andrukat provide them with bank statements and other court records.

When Andrukat failed to provide the records four months after the original request, village trustees contacted the state Comptroller's Office.

Village Trustee Robert Funnell said Wednesday the board bears the majority of the blame, and that Andrukat is not the subject of the criminal investigation.

"It would not have happened if we had been more careful," Funnell said. "We got slack."

Funnell said the village has already implemented many of the recommendations in the report.

"Hiring practices, background checks, that sort of thing," he said. "It won't happen again."

Trustees are expected to discuss any criminal action arising from the auditor's allegations when they meet in March, Funnell said.