Tuesday, May 04, 1999
Ex-clerk in Fairview indicted
Missing $70K sent tiny city into the red
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FAIRVIEW — Mayor Harold Parks is pleased to know that the two women who allegedly bilked the tiny city of Fairview of about $70,000 are now facing criminal charges.
“You hear the stories about the little boys who steal candy bars and go to jail,” he said. “It's kind of amazing that two people can steal $70,000 in city funds and still walk the streets every day.”
Former Fairview Clerk-Treasurer Maxine Born and her daughter, Michelle Still, 24, were indicted Friday in Kenton Circuit Court on charges of theft by unlawful taking of property valued at more than $300. They will be arraigned on the charge Monday before Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe.
A state examination revealed last year that $70,177 in city funds had been misappropriated through “unsupported and unauthorized payments” to Mrs. Born and her daughter between January 1996 and August 1998.
The city of Fairview, population 250, already has filed a civil lawsuit in an effort to recoup the money. According to documents filed in that Kenton Circuit Court case, the two women took the money by forging checks on city accounts.
Mr. Parks doesn't know whether the new criminal charges will increase the city's chances of recouping the lost money.
“As far as the criminal charges, I really don't know,” he said. “I don't know if that will help us or not. (But) we intend to recover this money one way or the other.”
The money that the two women allegedly took amounted to more than 70 percent of the city's total available funds for the period in question. The misappropriated money helped send city finances into the red.
Since they learned of the state investigation's findings, city officials have been working to get Fairview's finances in better shape. One of their tactics has been to recoup money from delinquent property taxes.
“I know we're doing all right,” Mr. Parks said. “We've recovered from the position they put us in.”
Mrs. Born was making $100 a month as clerk-treasurer. She quit her job in September. Her husband, former Fairview Councilman Lawrence Born, resigned from city council in August.
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