A Message from our Democratic Town Council Members:
Many residents have questions regarding the larceny of at least $250,000 from a Prospect municipal bank account, There are details we don’t know yet, and some information we do have cannot yet be made public in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, which is still active and ongoing. The timeline below outlines the events surrounding the theft as well as the information we do have regarding this significant breach of the town’s payroll account.
1991-2016: The town’s auditor, Michael Batista, reconciled Town accounts on a regular basis, as a means of keeping and preparing records for his annual audit.
Democratic Town Council members are concerned about the possibility of a conflict of interest within this system, and we continue to work with and raise those concerns to the Mayor and the full Council.
2017: Charles Heaven & Co. was hired to a three-year auditing contract. Heaven & Co. performed audits for fiscal years ending 2017, 2018, and 2019.
It’s not clear who was responsible for monthly reconciling of Town accounts. Democratic Town Council members have requested payroll account information many times over the past several years, with limited success.
November 2018: Batista discovered discrepancies in the town’s payroll account and immediately reported them to the Mayor’s office. Batista was working as a financial consultant to the town at the time.
Mayor Chatfield notified local and state police, Webster Bank, and the town’s insurance company of the discrepancies, and an investigation was opened. In order to protect the integrity of the investigation, law enforcement advised Webster and the Mayor to keep all information in strict confidence.
December 3, 2019: Mayor Chatfield contacted an outside attorney to represent the Town’s interests in this matter, due to a conflict of interest with the Town Attorney and Webster Bank.
December 11, 2019: Mayor Chatfield notified Town Council Chair, Jeff Slapikas, of the theft and the investigation. We do not know when the Town Treasurer was notified of this theft.
December 17, 2019: The Mayor and Town Council met in executive session and the full Council was informed for the first time of the investigation. We have not yet been informed what other law enforcement or state agencies are involved.
The Mayor’s Office estimates the total loss at $250,000, of which Webster has “clawed back” $130,000 from vendors notified of the fraudulent activity. Fraudulent transactions discovered so far span December 2017 through November 2018.
January 2020: Tomeckha Gilkes was arrested and charged with first degree larceny, a Class B felony. The investigation has revealed at least 108 transactions totaling approximately $34,900 connected to Gilkes from September to November 2018. Gilkes is not now and has never been a Town employee.
Following Town Council meetings on January 21 and February 4, the following steps have been taken:
We invite everyone to attend Town Council meetings to learn more, and we encourage you to ask questions during the meetings' public comment segment.
Respectfully,
Theresa Graveline, Pat Geary, Larry Fitzgerald & Paul Murray
1991-2016: The town’s auditor, Michael Batista, reconciled Town accounts on a regular basis, as a means of keeping and preparing records for his annual audit.
Democratic Town Council members are concerned about the possibility of a conflict of interest within this system, and we continue to work with and raise those concerns to the Mayor and the full Council.
2017: Charles Heaven & Co. was hired to a three-year auditing contract. Heaven & Co. performed audits for fiscal years ending 2017, 2018, and 2019.
It’s not clear who was responsible for monthly reconciling of Town accounts. Democratic Town Council members have requested payroll account information many times over the past several years, with limited success.
November 2018: Batista discovered discrepancies in the town’s payroll account and immediately reported them to the Mayor’s office. Batista was working as a financial consultant to the town at the time.
Mayor Chatfield notified local and state police, Webster Bank, and the town’s insurance company of the discrepancies, and an investigation was opened. In order to protect the integrity of the investigation, law enforcement advised Webster and the Mayor to keep all information in strict confidence.
December 3, 2019: Mayor Chatfield contacted an outside attorney to represent the Town’s interests in this matter, due to a conflict of interest with the Town Attorney and Webster Bank.
December 11, 2019: Mayor Chatfield notified Town Council Chair, Jeff Slapikas, of the theft and the investigation. We do not know when the Town Treasurer was notified of this theft.
December 17, 2019: The Mayor and Town Council met in executive session and the full Council was informed for the first time of the investigation. We have not yet been informed what other law enforcement or state agencies are involved.
The Mayor’s Office estimates the total loss at $250,000, of which Webster has “clawed back” $130,000 from vendors notified of the fraudulent activity. Fraudulent transactions discovered so far span December 2017 through November 2018.
January 2020: Tomeckha Gilkes was arrested and charged with first degree larceny, a Class B felony. The investigation has revealed at least 108 transactions totaling approximately $34,900 connected to Gilkes from September to November 2018. Gilkes is not now and has never been a Town employee.
Following Town Council meetings on January 21 and February 4, the following steps have been taken:
- Mayor and Town Council Chair have agreed to explore hiring a payroll service. This has been recommended by Town Councilor Theresa Graveline repeatedly over the past five years and supported by her Democratic co-councilors.
- The Mayor & Council Chair also recommended the hiring of a part-time Financial Clerk; this job description is being developed.
- Since a written policies and procedures manual for financial oversight does not currently exist, one is being compiled for the Mayor’s office to establish requirements for segregation of duties, assigned responsibilities, or requirements for management oversight and approval of expenditures, investments and account reconciliations.
- The Council is discussing a request for proposals to hire an independent auditor to audit the last two to four annual reports.
We invite everyone to attend Town Council meetings to learn more, and we encourage you to ask questions during the meetings' public comment segment.
Respectfully,
Theresa Graveline, Pat Geary, Larry Fitzgerald & Paul Murray