A state audit released today shows the former city clerk in Kinross embezzled over $20,000 from the small southeast Iowa town. Deputy State Auditor Tami Kusian says Toni Miller improperly issued herself checks over a 5-year period. “There was about $3,200 of unauthorized payroll and over $13,000 of improper reimbursements and mileage claims that were submitted,” Kusian says.
Officials from the town of about 70 people requested the auditor’s investigation late last year. “It was discovered when their bank called because they saw a check to the clerk with a memo line that said ‘personal loan.’ So, the bank notified the city and then the city officials contacted us,” Kusian said.
Miller worked as the city clerk part-time and was paid an annual salary of $600. She admitted in a written statement to taking money from the city. “I believe when she resigned, she provided the Keokuk County Sheriff’s office with a memo that indicated she had stolen some funds from the city,” Kusian said.
Miller had worked for the city since October of 2005. In the written statement, she said she began writing checks to herself from the city’s account in 2009. Miller has not yet been charged. The Keokuk County Attorney’s office is reviewing the case.