Magnolia authorities have not brought charges against a former city employee suspected of embezzling public funds, saying they want to first find out who tipped off the reporter who revealed the incident.
Police detective James Kenny told the Enterprise-Journal Wednesday that he had not yet visited or contacted the owners of McComb Recycling Center to verify the video footage and a receipt obtained by the Enterprise-Journal in its report of the incident.
Kenny requested a statement for the investigation from an Enterprise-Journal reporter. He also asked the Enterprise-Journal to provide him with a copy of the video.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Byrd requested the evidence last week, and the Enterprise-Journal furnished Byrd with a copy of the recycling center receipt last week and a copy of the video on Tuesday.
Kenny said he would get those items from Byrd and asked how the information came to the Enterprise-Journal.
“Basically, I need to know how all of this started. How did it come to you?” he asked the reporter.
The newspaper originally received news of the incident through a confidential tip.
Kenny said that he would have to find “that source — that person” in order to pursue the charges.
The bulk of the evidence includes video footage obtained by the Enterprise-Journal that allegedly shows that on Jan. 10, recently fired city employee Willie Bowen sold city property — aluminum cans he and inmates collected from roadsides and other public areas — for cash while on duty.
The video footage shows Bowen receiving cash from the McComb Recycling Center that morning. A receipt also indicates a transaction of $51.51 cash paid to Bowen in exchange for 101 pounds of aluminum cans. The receipt bears what appears to be Bowen’s signature at the bottom.
Alderman Lonnie Cox said Bowen admitted to the board in executive session that he used the cash that day to purchase lunch for himself and the inmates.
City Hall also released deposit detail records from the town’s general fund account last week that show no deposits related to the aluminum cans collected that day.
District Attorney Dee Bates said that if a city employee sells city property and pockets the money, it would violate the state’s felony embezzlement statute if the money is more than $25. He said that trash 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 furthermore said that there is also a law that makes it illegal to work inmates for personal benefit.
Byrd said he asked the Magnolia Police Department to move forward with the matter as soon as possible
But Kenny said the receipt and video footage might not be enough to mount a case, and he wanted to know the original source of the allegation.
“I can go by what you said in the paper, but I can’t use the paper as evidence,” he told the reporter. “Let’s be serious, the recycling center didn’t call you and tell you that the guy was up there selling cans and stuff like that.”
The time and date stamp on the video footage accurately correlates with the time and date stamp on the store receipt, though it is exactly one hour off due to a discrepancy in the recorder’s daylight savings time setting. A check of time and date stamps on other footage confirmed the cause of the discrepancy.
Basically, I need to know how all of this started. How did it come to you?
