A special investigation by the state auditor’s office has identified nearly $75,000 worth of improper transactions by the former city clerk in the small northwest Iowa town of Westfield.
The investigation was sparked by concerns about former Westfield City Clerk Angela Sorensen. Sorensen told auditors the city’s financial records were destroyed in a fire at city hall that started on the edge of her desk and more recent records were lost due to a computer virus.
Auditors, though, were able to review about four-and-a-half years worth of records and identified nearly $40,000 of utility payments to the city that were never deposited. Sorenson was overpaid by more than 13,000 during the four-and-a-half year period and Sorenson wrote herself about $4300 worth of unauthorized checks, plus another $3000 worth of checks were redeemed for cash.
Copies of the auditor’s report have been forwarded to the Plymouth County Sheriff and County Attorney as well as the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the state attorney general.
Westfield is a community of about 130 residents. No other city in the state is located further west than Westfield.