Mill Valley School District Expenses Probed

MILL VALLEY, CA —An independent probe commissioned by the Mill Valley School District on the use of its credit cards for lavish expenses revealed no fraud but noted areas of concern and included specific recommendations.

The district probe conducted by Eide Bailly LLP followed a KTVU investigative report earlier this year describing the administrators’ use of district credit cards to charge thousands of dollars in expenses that included a limo ride to wine county, a Tahoe ski trip and yachting on the San Francisco Bay.

The district paid the firm $5,000 to conduct the investigation, KTVU reports

The probe resulted in a 38-page report, the findings of which confirmed it identified “potential fraud risks during the interviews and examination of documentation.”

The firm recommended that the district implement proper authorization procedures among other safeguards.

“Proper authorization reduces the opportunity for fraudulent transactions to occur because approval from an authorized individual is necessary to complete various stages of a financial transaction,” the report said.

“Authorization can come in the form of signatures, initials and electronic approvals. Pre‐determined levels of authority for employees to approve transactions should be clearly documented within an organization.”

Among the chief concerns identified in the report was that the district has no policy for credit card use in place, which heightens the risk of employees misusing charge cards.

According to the report, the district allows purchases to be preapproved verbally, which would make such preapproval difficult to prove if fraud was suspected.

“Independent checks should be conducted to ensure transactions have proper authority and are recorded accurately,” the report said.

“Independent checks include rotating job duties among employees, requiring mandatory vacations, surprise audits, engaging in yearly audits, etc.”