FORT VALLEY, Ga. (WGXA) — City officials in Fort Valley are cleared of criminal charges after a city credit card fraud investigation led by the Macon District Attorney found “no basis” for prosecution.
In a release, Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Howard announced that she will not be pursuing charges following an audit into Fort Valley’s use of city-issued credit cards.
This comes after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) looked into allegations of fraudulent credit card usage by the city of Fort Valley, with a focus on the accounts of former Police Chief DJ Flores, former City Administrator Gary Lee, former Financial Director Eddie Mason and former Mayor Jeffery Lundy.
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DA Howard said that the review found that most of the purchases in question were for hotels and restaurants, along with some others made at Best Buy and auto parts stores.
The GBI said those purchases were outlined in the city’s budget and made for training, computer equipment, the fire department and the Public Safety Firearms Complex. No evidence of using city credit cards for personal gain was found, the DA said.
Although the DA does not plan to prosecute, she did make an effort to advise the city of Fort Valley on establishing better policies for government spending.
“While this investigation ultimately did not reveal any basis for criminal charges, it did spotlight the need for city officials to develop policies and procedures that comply with best practices in government spending, bookkeeping, and accounting,” said Howard. “Such policies, with a focus on transparency, stewardship, and personal accountability, would promote greater fiscal responsibility in the use of taxpayer dollars and help increase the public’s trust in leadership and finance.”
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