LOOKS LIKE NEW FAIRFIELD ISN'T ALONE WHEN IT COMES TO MISSING FUNDS! BUT UNLIKE NEW FAIRFIELD A FORENSIC AUDIT WAS CONDUCTED!
Insurance company pays New Milford $28,000 in connection with missing Building Department funds
Susan Tuz, Staff Writer
Published: 11:40 p.m., Tuesday, November 9, 2010
NEW MILFORD -- A settlement has been paid to the town of New Milford by Traveler's Insurance after an accountant's forensic report revealed $18,000 was missing from the Building Department books.
Finance Director Ray Jankowski confirmed Tuesday that Traveler's paid the town $28,000 in response to a claim he entered regarding $18,000 in missing funds revealed by a forensic report prepared by BlumShapiro.
The report covered an audit of the books from 2007 through March 2010, Jankowski said.
In addition to $18,000 for the missing funds, a sum of $10,000 was paid by Traveler's to cover the cost of the accountant's forensic report.
"There are two types of proof," Jankowski explained. "One exists under the law and the other is, for an insurance company, accepted through the results of an audit."
Jankowski added that while the audit proved the funds were missing, no proof of theft has been found to date under the law.
Longtime Building Department secretary Barbara Brickley resigned from her position in New Milford Town Hall on Aug. 13.
Brickley was on administrative leave from her position at the time, according to personnel file documents.
Brickley's resignation came as an investigation was being conducted by state police into "discrepancies" in the Building Department books, Mayor Pat Murphy said.
That investigation is still ongoing, according to town attorney Randy DiBella.
Jankowski and DiBella declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
Murphy said she also declined to comment until the police investigation is closed.
When contacted by The News-Times Tuesday and told about the forensic report findings and the insurance settlement payout, Brickley said, "I have no idea what it's about. This is the first I've heard of it."
In September, Murphy said "no one was charged with anything, and no one was accused of anything."
The mayor declined to comment on whether Brickley's resignation had any connection to the ongoing police investigation. Murphy did say at that time that Brickley was not asked to resign.
Contact Susan Tuz at stuz@newstimes.com or 860-355-7322.
