The State Auditor’s office has moved forward with the investigation into the alleged embezzlement of public funds by Magnolia’s former city grounds and street keeper.
Special Agent David Oubre said his office has begun contacting witnesses and collecting evidence connected to the case, which centers around the former employee’s alleged theft of proceeds from recycling cans he and work-release inmates removed from city roadsides.
The case was reported to authorities Feb. 4 when the city board fired Willie Bowen from his position as the city grounds and street keeper after evidence surfaced alleging he embezzled city funds in the form of keeping proceeds from recycled cans he oversaw work-release inmates remove from the sides of city streets.
Evidence obtained by the Enterprise-Journal shows that on Jan. 10 Bowen allegedly sold the cans for cash and never remitted the cash to the city. The evidence includes city financial records that show the absence of any deposit, a sales receipt signed by Bowen and surveillance footage from McComb Recycling Center that shows Bowen exchanging the cans for cash.
McComb Recycling Center owner Cecil Taylor confirmed that an auditor’s office investigator came to his business to collect evidence and witness statements.
Taylor said he told the investigator that Bowen had done the same thing with cans several times in the past. However, he said he felt the investigator showed little actuation to solidify the case.
“He never said that he wasn’t going to do anything, but that’s the impression I got,” Taylor said of the investigator.
Oubre said he has not yet interviewed Bowen. It’s unclear if Bowen has an attorney.
Under the state’s public officials statute, which applies to almost anyone holding a government position, if a public employee sells city property and pockets the money or uses city property, such as a city vehicle, for personal use, it would constitute a crime of felony embezzlement.
District Attorney Dee Bates said trash, such as cans left on the sides of public roadways, is considered city property once it is picked up by a city employee and placed into a city-owned vehicle. Magnolia board attorney Wayne Dowdy said he agreed with that interpretation.
Bates said in earlier conversations that the value amount in question had to be greater than $25, but he said this week that he conducted further research into the statute and discovered that it carries no threshold at all.
The cans were sold to the recycling center for a total of $51.51, a low amount of money compared to other cases handled by the state auditor’s office.
Bates, however, said the reason why the public employees embezzlement statute carries no amount threshold is because the law serves to prevent the loss of public trust.
“Obviously, it is to regulate public officials,” he said. “I think that as a general citizen, we need to feel that we trust our government and the employees of our government to do what they need to be doing on our behalf.”
