WILKES-BARRE -- The state auditor general is criticizing the Luzerne County sheriff's department because it cannot account for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The auditor general says it is clearly a case of sloppy bookkeeping, and the findings may trigger a criminal investigation.
When we spoke with Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale Tuesday afternoon, he called the Luzerne County sheriff's department "one of the worst offices that we've ever audited when it comes to internal controls."
The state audit covers the finances of the Luzerne County sheriff's department from 2008 to 2013.
DePasquale says the most eye-opening finding in the report is that the sheriff's department cannot account for where $9.1 million was paid out.
"If it isn't a crime, it would be gross incompetence," DePasquale claimed.
The Luzerne County sheriff's department takes in roughly $8 million a year from a variety of permit fees and collected fines. The five-year audit found the department's bank deposits often failed to match deposit slips.
The audit also found that the sheriff's department failed to pay the state its $78,000 share from permits and fees in 2011, and that there are more than 400 checks, worth a total of almost $400,000, that haven't been cashed.
"This is clearly the most damning county row office audit I've conducted since I've been auditor general," said DePasquale.
"I'm not surprised at all," said Walter Griffith.
Griffith says he's not surprised because he audited the Luzerne County sheriff's department three times when he was the county controller from 2010 to 2013.
Griffith says his county audits found the sheriff's department could not manage money or account for dollars taken in on everything from gun permit fees to sheriff sales.
"To have a deputy sheriff who's not trained in accounting to track millions of dollars is insanity," Griffith said.
The state auditor general notes that Luzerne County has had four sheriffs or acting sheriffs since 2008.
But DePasquale calls the lack of internal controls and accounting practices at the Luzerne County sheriff's department, and thousands that can't be accounted for, alarming.
"We believe some of these findings are so serious that they are conducive to fraud, which means to be investigated further by appropriate law enforcement."
DePasquale has turned over the findings of the audit to Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis for an investigation.
We could not reach any of the former sheriffs in charge of the office during the period of this audit.
DePasquale says current Sherrif Brian Szumski, who took office after the period of the audit, has promised to make the changes needed for taxpayers to know where their money is spent.