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SUMMARY
In October 2003, Pinal County
Administrators requested that the Office of the Auditor General investigate
allegations of financial misconduct by Ms. Sylvia Martinez, former Inmate
Service Detention Officer for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO). As a
result, our Office conducted an investigation of those financial improprieties
and submitted our report to the Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General
has taken criminal action against Ms. Martinez, and she has been indicted on
felony charges. See Conclusion on page 13 of this report.
Our investigation revealed that
Ms. Martinez may have embezzled at least $11,884 between January 2002 and
September 2003. In addition, Ms. Martinez misused public money by delaying
deposits of inmate money totaling $42,840 to help conceal her theft of $11,884.1
She further attempted to conceal her actions by falsifying and disposing of
documentation, which constitutes tampering with public documents, and by
manipulating information within the PCSO bond accounting system.
The County’s lack of internal
controls and inadequate segregation of duties allowed Ms. Martinez to embezzle
money received on behalf of inmates for almost 2 years. Specifically, in
addition to handling and depositing all inmate bonds and commissary monies, Ms.
Martinez was responsible for preparing and signing checks, recording
transactions in the accounting systems, and reconciling bank information. As a
result, Ms. Martinez was able to embezzle public money, and in turn, the County
was unable to deter or detect her thefts.
1 Arizona Revised
Statutes §35-302 provides that money belonging to, received or held by a county
in their official capacity is considered public money.
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