Treasurer scrutinized yet again
Board to challenge Fabrizio's competency

The Mohave County Board of Supervisors is not done with the treasurer just yet.

The board is being asked to authorize a formal audit of the investment policies of the treasurer’s office and transfer all investments into the Local Government Investment Pool.

In a memo to the board, County manager Ron Walker explained that an informal review was conducted by the county’s Office of Management and Budget and found “certain exceptions or discrepancies in practice and procedure to the standards and guidelines per the authorities,” and that “a reading of these exceptions may beg the question as to whether the interests of the investment portfolio participants have been served with best practices by qualified management.”

At the heart of the issue was the decision to move securities safekeeping from the county’s primary bank JP Morgan Chase to Merrill Lynch, Inc., and then again to Union Bank of Switzerland — a move Walker states was executed without approval by the supervisors and is in violation of the county’s procurement code.

Also there appears to be deviation in investment policy using about $50 million to invest in corporate bonds rather than the lower-yield “U.S. Treasuries and Federal Agency securities.” With a declining market, the result, Walker states, was more than a $2 million loss.

Use of Merrill Lynch for those investments also is cause of concern, Walker writes, as the firm is not on the county’s “approved broker list.”

However, Walker notes that the informal review turned up no sign of defalcation, which he defines as “willful intent to defraud for personal gain.” Possible defalcation was one of the reasons Walker had put forward to suspend Treasurer Lee Fabrizio two weeks ago.

The board declined to suspend Fabrizio, after Supervisor Pete Byers, R-Dist. 1, said he wanted to “protect” employees in the treasurer’s office and not have them questioned by Fabrizio’s attorneys regarding their accusations.

The accusations stemmed from a human resources investigation into a grievance filed by treasurer’s office employee Melissa Havatone against then-Deputy Treasurer Janet Barker, a former Merrill Lynch employee.

Fabrizio has stated that the grievance and investigation is politically motivated, and some employees have come forward to challenge reports of their statements within the investigative report. The Kingman Daily Miner reported that employees said their statements in the human resources report were inaccurate, statements were omitted and in some instances the responses were changed completely.

Havatone is running against Fabrizio for the position of treasurer.

The board meets in Kingman Monday at 9:30 a.m.

You may contact the reporter at dbell@havasunews.com.

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****