Former Knox County Rescue employee indicted on theft, forgery charges
A former employee of Knox County Rescue (KCR) has been indicted on charges she misappropriated at least $44,000 between September 2020 and April 2022.
An investigation by the state comptroller's office found Charlotte McLawhorn, who was responsible for bookkeeping and financial reporting, used KCR's credit cards and Amazon account for personal purchases including airline tickets, salon expenses, vacation rentals, retail shopping and medical bills. Investigators reported she then made false entries in KCR’s accounting software to hide her unauthorized purchases
The investigation found other questionable purchases adding up to over $12,000 that lacked proper documentation to show whether they were for KCR.
Mike Donila, Knox County's communications director, told Knox News KCR alerted county officials who then contacted the comptroller's office.
"Upon notification from Knox County Rescue, the county stopped all payments related to KCR's FY 2023 contract," Donila said in a text.
The comptroller's report identified two deficiencies in KCR's process: that it did not adequately segregate financial duties and that officials did not provide adequate oversight over KCR credit card and purchasing procedures.
Donila told Knox News those deficiencies have been corrected and KCR had hired an outside firm to perform accounting functions.
"With the release of the comptroller's report, the county can now work with Knox County Rescue to recoup any county funds fraudulently used by Ms. McLawhorn," he said.
McLawhorn worked at KCR from December 2017 to April 6, 2023, when she left for another job.
She was indicted this month by a Knox County Grand Jury on one count of theft of property over $10,000, one count of Tennessee Computer Crimes Act violations over $10,000, one count of forgery over $10,000, and four counts of fraudulent use of credit cards.
The results of the investigation were sent to the office of the District Attorney General of the 6th Judicial District.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Former Knox County Rescue employee indicted on theft, forgery charges
