A former Coconino County employee who oversaw the Navajo County Health Department has been charged with 16 counts of theft, misappropriation of public funds and fraud, according to court documents.
The indictment released Tuesday follows a state audit that found Jeffrey Lee used purchase cards issued to him in both counties for personal gain and falsified information on records. Navajo County said he took a paid leave of absence Tuesday.
“We want to assure our residents and community partners that the Navajo County Health Department will continue to provide high-quality, much-needed services without interruption,” County Manager Glenn Keffert said in a statement.
Lee referred the Associated Press to his attorney, Ryan Stevens. Lee is scheduled to appear in court in Flagstaff in January.
Lee worked as an Emergency Preparedness Manager in Coconino County from August 2012 to April 2017, but left in April 2017 to move to Navajo County.
The audit found Lee used his Coconino County card to purchase $82,550 worth of gift cards and used them for family cell phone service, clothes dryers, merchandise for his personal clothing business, and electronics. . About 40 of the 237 purchases, according to the audit, were made on holidays, weekends, or when Lee was on vacation.
The audit also found that Lee falsified information in the county’s accounting system to make the purchase appear to be a legitimate county business. In one instance, Lee used Coconino County funds to lease her RV and boat storage in Flagstaff, according to the audit, and used it for personal travel, rather than as storage for the county’s emergency supplies. I used it as a trailer.
Lee told auditors that these accusations were “mistakes” and the county has been reimbursed. He said he would ask for a refund.
“Under the law, if someone misuses public funds, they are personally liable,” he told The Associated Press. I do not know the circumstances of the parties to the
In Navajo County, Lee was refunded $9,148 after he said he used the “wrong card” to pay cell phone companies, pay restaurant bills and donate to the memorial service. However, the audit said Lee did not do so until county officials demanded repayment after it was discovered that the purchase was not for county business and that Lee had falsified information.
Navajo County spokesman Brian Leighton said the charges were identified during an annual audit in early 2020. The county was unaware of the investigation into Lee’s purchase in Coconino County at the time, he said.
“In isolation, I didn’t think the policy violations at the time merited termination,” Layton told the Associated Press.
Coconino County requested a state audit in September 2017 after finding questionable spending while meeting public records requests, Peterson said. The state audit also noted that the county did not have adequate controls in place to verify credit cards issued to employees. For example, in Coconino County, Lee did not require receipts to be itemized and paid for transactions without reviewing them, auditors wrote.
The county said it had stepped up its processes, but the audit report said more could be done to protect public funds.
Coconino County Manager James Jain said policies regarding annual training and itemized receipts are expected to be finalized early next year.
“Coconino County is very careful with the expenditure of public funds,” he said in a statement.
