Ohio Auditor Keith Faber wants more training for public employees to spot government fraud and corruption and requiring them to speedily report suspected crimes, as a way of improving the state's ability to root out and prosecute bad actors and recoup taxpayer money.

“This case serves as a stark reminder to Ohio public officials that the business of the people must be conducted in an open and transparent manner and in instances where this does not take place there will be consequences,” Faber said in a statement.

“This type of corruption has a history of running rampant throughout the City of Youngstown and the citizens deserve better,” said Auditor Keith Faber. “Laws and financial guidelines are in place to avoid fraud and abuse, however, when the wrong people are put in a position of public trust, their greed and duplicity gets the better of them.”

“It’s appalling that Ohioans in need were victimized not only by a pandemic that ravaged our economy, but by criminals who took advantage of a system that was outdated, overwhelmed and ill-prepared for the onslaught of unemployment claims caused by COVID,” said Auditor Keith Faber

“While these funds may have been used to help his wildlife center, you can’t just run wild with tax payers dollars,” said state auditor Keith Faber. “These actions damaged public trust, disrespected the community and benefited no one but himself.”

“The law is clear about using public funds on campaign activities like polling,” Faber stated in a news release last week. “School districts must be extremely careful in using electioneering techniques paid for by taxpayers.”

“This is a reminder that no matter the situation, there is simply no excuse to steal from the public,” said Auditor Faber. “Checks and balances are essential to a healthy handling of government funds and when a public official gets caught with their hand in the till justice must be served.”

“We all expect to get what we pay for, but in this case it’s painfully obvious that Ohioans did not,” said Faber in a release. “These contractors padded their paychecks with Ohio tax dollars for work they simply did not perform and now they are being held to account for their misdeeds.”

“This type of corruption has a history of running rampant throughout the city of Youngstown and the citizens deserve better,” Keith said. “Laws and financial guidelines are in place to avoid fraud and abuse, however, when the wrong people are put in a position of public trust, their greed and duplicity gets the better of them. I am glad they are being held accountable and justice will be served. I appreciate the city of Youngstown’s cooperation throughout this process and the current administration’s efforts to move past these types of practices.”

“The law is clear about using public funds on campaign activities like polling,” Faber stated in a news release last week. “School districts must be extremely careful in using electioneering techniques paid for by taxpayers.”

“Students pay enough for college, they don’t deserve to be footing the bill for employees padding their bank accounts and abusing University policies for their own financial gain,” Faber said in a statement.

“The employee was appointed as an employee of the city and in seeking payment, she was effectively receiving double compensation,” Faber said. “A Finding for Recovery for public monies illegally expended is issued in the amount of $57,200”

“We must be diligent in ensuring that contracts and lease agreements that involve taxpayer dollars leave no room for exploitation or abuse,” Ohio Auditor Keith Faber said in the release. “My staff works hard to identify these problems and protect Ohio taxpayers.”

“Ohio’s first responders exemplify the best in each of us, putting the well-being of those in need above their own well-being on a daily basis," Faber said. “When someone undermines their reputation and the respect they have earned through sacrifice, we will pursue those individuals to ensure they pay for the damage caused by their selfish acts.”

“Our audit found that the mayor repeatedly accepted compensation which he was not legally entitled to receive,” Faber said. “This money belongs to the residents of the village and should be repaid.”

Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber’s office is also conducting an audit of the zoo, the first time that office has ever reviewed the zoo's finances, even though the zoo has received tax levy funds for decades.

The auditor recommended that the city make expenditures that are for a public purpose and comply with its travel policies, both of which the city agreed to, according to a management letter accompanying the audit.

“Misrepresenting timesheets for personal gain is completely unacceptable, especially for law enforcement officials paid by taxpayers,” Faber said. “I commend the city’s recent enhanced internal audit team for helping uncover this abuse; the city must continue to identify issues like these that unnecessarily allow a few bad apples to reflect negatively on the majority of hard working city employees.”

“It is disappointing when a public servant betrays the public’s trust,” Faber said in a prepared statement. “In this case and all cases involving the misspending of taxpayer dollars, my agency will insure that the money is restored to its rightful place and used for its intended purpose.”

“It was really, really disappointing to me that they had failed to make the required disclosures,” Faber said. “One of the reasons you have apparently large, large holes (in preventing fraud) is the fact that, you know, those things were just never a priority.”

“Ohioans deserve systems that work – systems that provide the services they pay for in every pay check – and it is unacceptable that when the process is stressed, they are the ones that suffer,” Faber said. “It’s time to fix this mess and provide Ohioans with an unemployment system that is responsive to their needs and secure against the crooks that exploit its weaknesses.”

“It’s appalling that Ohioans in need were victimized not only by a pandemic that ravaged our economy, but by criminals who took advantage of a system that was outdated, overwhelmed and ill-prepared for the onslaught of unemployment claims caused by COVID,” said Auditor Keith Faber.

“We know that there are some many different levels of bad things happening here that it was just a cascading of problems,” Faber said. “Had they recognized the problem, they could have had more controls.”

In its rush to meet heightened demand for unemployment insurance during the pandemic, the Department of Jobs and Family Services filled $477 million in fraudulent claims and $3.3 billion in overpayments, the state auditor said Thursday.

“A performance audit is that we go in and look at the way they do things and try to figure out ways for them to do things better, faster, cheaper,” Faber said. “I launched an audit in the public interest to take a look at the fraud, and the fraud is rampant.”

Since our state has reopened, new burdens have been placed on them in service of our efforts to stop the spread of the virus. These restrictions have hurt the ability of businesses to make ends meet. Consequently, government must play a role in ensuring businesses don’t close down.

Auditor Keith Faber has been auditing Health Department coronavirus death data since September. A spokesperson said the error occurred when health officials were reconciling the state's death certificate database with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's infectious diseases database.

The auditor’s Special Investigations Unit also found the mayor didn’t claim funds on his taxes, did not declare the payments and also gave a city job to his son, which goes against nepotism laws in the state. The investigation began last year after the office received an anonymous tip regarding the mayor’s compensation.

The modifications allegedly occurred “subsequent to the employee submission and without any documentation, rationale, or apparent knowledge of the employee,” according to the report from state Auditor Keith Faber.

An Athens County woman accused of stealing more than $1.5 million from the Athens Metropolitan Housing Authority was indicted and arrested Monday on multiple charges.