City Attorney files open records request with GBI and District Attorney
Habersham District Attorney, George Christian, has closed the case on the disappearance of more than a half million dollars in missing funds from the City of Demorest. In a letter to the Special Agent in charge of the investigation, Christian says, “In the findings of the independent investigation, the forensic audit, and the G.B.I. investigation…all support the decision.” District Attorney Christian also spoke with Now Habersham and added, “When large sums of cash are kept, for long periods of time, in an unlocked, unsecured cabinet, with multiple people having access, it is near impossible to bring charges.”
The DA’s decision brings to a close the criminal judicial investigation locally.
READ: Demorest concludes internal theft investigation
Mayor Rick Austin spoke with Now Habersham about the ending of the local criminal investigation and said it was disappointing that it ended with no indictments.
He said the matter is not closed with the Demorest City Council or the people of Habersham County who lost more than $600,000 that was stolen from the city’s water fund between 2009 and 2013.
The city council has now directed Demorest City Attorney Joseph Homans to file open records requests with the GBI and Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office for “all information regarding the now closed investigation.” Those requests were scheduled to be filed today.
Where did the money go?
An internal investigation paid for by the City of Demorest last year pointed to egregious accounting procedures that likely contributed to the theft of money from City Hall where cash was kept for long periods of time without being deposited in the bank. Mayor Austin added, “They had several different computers, not speaking to each other, paper bookkeeping, and cash stored in a cabinet.”
READ: Auditor explains how money was stolen from Demorest
What’s next?
The Demorest Council last month passed a unanimous resolution asking the FBI to investigate. The bureau has not yet formally responded to that request.
Meanwhile, city officials are working to schedule a public forum with investigators so that the public can ask their own questions about how the state investigation was handled. City officials are skeptical as to whether investigators will accept.
Austin insists he’s determined to pursue the case as far as he can but readily admits at this point he’s disappointed and dismayed. “Where else can $600,000 of public money walk away and not get more attention than this?” he asks. “At this point it looks like whoever got the money is going to walk with it and it looks like nobody really cares.”
