ELGIN, IOWA – A Northern Iowa woman who served as city clerk of this small town is accused of stealing or misappropriating $131K in that position.
On March 7, 2023 The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office completed an investigation turned over by the Fayette County Attorney’s Office from a report conducted by Office of Auditor of Iowa upon the request of the city of Elgin in which City Clerk Rhonda Faye Dales was terminated.
Auditor of State Rob Sand earlier in March released a report on a special investigation of the City of Elgin located in Fayette County. The special investigation was requested by City officials as a result of concerns regarding certain financial transactions processed by the former City Clerk, Rhonda Dales, and covered the period October 1, 2017, through June 30, 2021.
Sand reported the special investigation identified $131,212.73 of improper disbursements and $7,531.67 of unsupported disbursements. The improper disbursements identified includes $104,282.70 of unauthorized payroll and additional checks issued to Ms. Dales and related payroll costs, $19,204.10 of unauthorized reimbursements issued to Ms. Dales, and $5,881.00 of excess insurance premium payments issued to Ms. Dales. Sand also reported the improper disbursements identified includes personal purchases made using the City’s debit card and interest and late fees to IPERS.
The $7,531.67 of unsupported disbursements identified includes $6,595.93 of reimbursements issued to Ms. Dales and $935.74 of purchases made with the City’s debit card. Sand reported it was not possible to determine the propriety of these disbursements because they were not supported by documentation sufficient to determine if they were for City operations or personal in nature.
The report includes recommendations to strengthen the City’s internal controls and operations, such as improving segregation of duties, perform bank reconciliations, and ensure disbursements are properly supported by sufficient documentation.
At the request of the Fayette County Attorney’s Office it was further investigated and upon completion of the investigation and the State Audit report, Rhonda Faye Dales, age 62 of Clermont, was charged with theft in the first degree, a class “C” felony.
Dales will make a court appearance on the charges at a later date.
