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BREC audit discloses thefts valued at more than $70,000; gift card accounting lacking, too
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BATON ROUGE — An audit shows that three people stole money from the East Baton Rouge parks system between January 2018 and last summer, with one person making off with more than $66,000.
Auditors also dinged BREC for a second year for failing to keep accurate records of its gift cards.
The Louisiana Legislative Auditor said Monday that charges were pending against two of the three people who stole from the park system — one person who took $66,705 through a BREC credit card over a five-year period and another person who misappropriated $3,269 in cash receipts from 2019 to 2021.
Another person took $3,706 in improper mileage reimbursements, but has not been charged for their 2021 offenses.
None of the three were identified in the audit, beyond their title, and none still work for BREC. The person who took the greatest amount of money, a special facilities manager, has made partial restitution of $20,716. The others were identified as a center supervisor and a "project coordinator II."
BREC said it wouldn't release the names, calling the situations personnel matters.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office said Monday its records showed that an employee named Valerie Griffin was arrested in September 2021 and accused of taking $3,269 in cash and $666 in checks from the Alsen Park Recreation Center. Investigators said that, on one date, an envelope that should have included $100 for a site rental contained only $8.
After the theft was discovered, Griffin skipped a meeting with BREC auditors, investigators said. A court case is still pending, records showed Monday.
The larger theft was handled by Baton Rouge Police, which did not immediately respond to messages.
The auditors said each of the thefts occurred because of poor oversight.
Also, the auditors said BREC didn't have an accurate accounting of its gift cards and their outstanding balances. In its reply to the audit, BREC said it will have a solution in place by the end of September.
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