The Lake County Sheriff’s Department says what happened to more than $7,000 that went missing from one of its divisions in 2017 can’t be determined.
The missing $7,761.24 from the Sheriff’s Department Civil Division was flagged in a state audit, but the department said an internal investigation could not determine where the money went. The Indiana State Board of Accounts released an audit of Lake County that found the Sheriff’s Department Civil Division failed to report “misappropriation (theft) of public funds,” according to the document.
Lake County Chief William Paterson said the department can’t can’t account for the money.
“We don’t know what happened,” Paterson said. “We don’t know if it was misappropriation.”
The audit found four deposits, totaling $7,761.24, from June 29, 2017, to July 14, 2017, that were never deposited in the bank.
The reported misappropriation would have happened under the administration of former Sheriff John Buncich, who was convicted of bribery and wire fraud in August 2017 and is currently serving a more than 15-year term in federal prison.
Deposits in the division were not regularly deposited,…
