A state audit has concluded the fired clerk for a small town in southeast Iowa took at least 60-thousand dollars from the city. On May 2nd of this year, the bank statement for the City of Pleasant Plain in Jefferson County was accidentally delivered to the City Clerk in Brighton. She opened it and saw a number of questionable items. She notified a City Council member in Pleasant Plain.
Pleasant Plain City Clerk Clark Ann Gingerich was questioned, and then fired the next day. The state audit found that over the past two-and-a-half years Gingerich had written over 42-thousand dollars worth of checks to herself. Another seven-thousand dollars worth of checks were written to obtain cash. She also withdrew about seven-hundred-50 dollars in cash from the city’s account on top of that.
In all, the audit identified over 64-thousand dollars worth of “improper disbursements” including about 67-hundred dollars worth of stuff bought from Wal-Mart. The County Attorney and state officials are conducting a criminal investigation and they requested the audit.