The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating a theft at Water Works No. 8 of Wards 3 and 8 (LeBleu Settlement/Iowa area) and will submit a report to the District Attorney once the investigation is complete. No names have been released by the Sheriff’s Office, parish or Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office at this time.

In January 2024, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury took over the governance of Water Works District 8 as part of the consolidation of the parish’s water districts, and the District’s Board of Commissioners was suspended. Operations were placed under the parish Division of Public Works and Engineering. Accounting activities were placed under the Division of Finance.

Staff discovered some “financially related issues,” according to a “brief overview” of the audit report from Karen Rowley, Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA).

The financially-related issues – red flags – occurred for the period of July 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, and further investigation found discrepancies before that time.      

On April 5, 2024, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury notified the Louisiana Legislative Auditor of alleged misappropriation of funds that occurred in the district.

Jason L. Guillory, McElroy, Quirk & Burch (MKB), is listed as the CPA independent auditor, according to the LLA report. In his June 27 report, Guillory indicated that the district did not have adequate cash on hand to maintain proper bank balance, the district used customer security deposits to fund other activities, 17 cash and credit card disbursements that lacked supporting documentation,

“It is estimated that the District has incurred a loss of approximately $291,758 related to District funded disbursement activity that appears to be related to personal activity of the Plant Manager or related parties of the Plant Manager. The period of time for this loss was focused on 2020 to 2023, but the Parish was able to locate some activity in 2019,” according to the MQB report on the LLA website.

The LLA report also states the plant manager used funds for the purposes of “operating a salvage vehicle business, funding various activities or repairs of personally owned vehicles and equipment, funding various home improvements or home furnishings, funding operations of a separate legal entity…personal hunting or other recreational endeavors, and funding personal or related party medical expenditures.”

For more information, visit lla.la.gov