Calcasieu water plant manager used funds for perfume, home furnishings

(The Center Square) — A recent audit of a Calcasieu Parish water district has revealed widespread financial mismanagement, including missing funds, document tampering, and possible ethics breaches.

According to the report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office, a 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."

Those "misappropriated" funds totaled $291,757, according to the report . Other costs alleged include perfume, credit card payments and hotel rooms during Hurricane Laura in 2021.

"The Parish…denoted that there were employees, tasked with keeping the water system operational, who remained at the facility during the disaster," the report writes. "There did not appear to be a valid reason for the District to pay for a hotel room to evacuate the Office Manager, much less for two hotel rooms for family members of the Office Manager."

Both the plant manager and office manager are suspected of tampering with public documents, a violation of state law.

The audit comes after the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury assumed control of the district in January 2024, part of a parish-wide effort to consolidate water services.

With the transition, day-to-day operations were shifted to the parish’s Division of Public Works and Engineering, while financial responsibilities were moved to the Division of Finance. Parish finance staff soon uncovered issues, leading to the independent audit.

The report outlined 13 key findings, with the first four focused on the six-month period under audit. These included a lack of proper financial oversight, failure to meet bond requirements, insufficient funds to cover customer security deposits, and poorly maintained financial records.

"The Office Manager or the Plant Manager would recount the funds with the cashier and one of the three would then place the funds in the safe located in the District Office," the report writes. "On occasions the Office Manager or Plant Manager were not available, another office employee would count the drawers with the cashier."

The audit also revealed deeper issues dating back to 2020. An estimated $481,439 in cash from customer payments and security deposits was found to be lost, along with $15,265 lost through failed collections from closed or insufficiently funded bank accounts.

Further concerns highlighted in the audit included billing disputes with a private development within the district, a possibly fraudulent insurance claim, payroll inconsistencies involving vacation payouts and retroactive payments, and failure to file sales taxes on time.

The audit also raised potential constitutional violations tied to unauthorized safety bonuses and payments for holiday celebrations, a violation of the state constitution.

Parish officials are reviewing the audit findings and weighing legal options in response to the district's mismanagement.