$15,000 of missing funds from the Town of Walworth under criminal investigation

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – $15,000 in taxpayer money is missing from the town of Walworth. Now a criminal investigation is underway by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the town supervisor, someone committed fraud by placing funds in the payroll account of town employees.     

So, how did the town get here? Most importantly, how does the town plan to get back thousands of dollars in taxpayer money that has gone missing?

The town supervisor understands that residents want answers.

“They want their money back,” says Donalty. “But they also want to know who is responsible for this. It’s not something that we are going to name any of the involved parties at this point.”

It’s something many want to know. However, they are not going to release any further information currently because of the ongoing criminal investigation.

Donalty started his new role as town supervisor in January 2022. He thought it would be a good idea to have an audit done to bring the books up to date. What auditors revealed was not expected.

“They provided us with a report subsequent to that there had been some misappropriation of funds in the payroll account of some employees,” says Donalty.

When he became aware of this, they spoke to legal counsel to find out what could be done.

“Myself personally were advised by legal counsel that the cost involved in legal filing fees, court costs, attorney’s fees, witness fees would probably exceed the missing money,” says Donalty.

Ultimately, they want to get taxpayers’ money back. $15,000 is a substantial loss of taxpayer funds. Although it may cost more in legal fees, he believes there needs to be accountability.

“If we are not able to do that civilly then we would like to see perhaps if there is some type of criminal charge,” says Donalty.

Currently, they are in the beginning stages of the investigation. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office has assigned detectives to the case.

“They are going to look into it and turn over every piece of evidence they can,” says Sheriff Milby.

Although he can’t go into further details about this investigation, what he can say is this may be more than a case of misappropriation of funds.

“But also, a misappropriation of taxpayer trust. So that’s why we’re concerned about this case,” says Milby.