State Auditor Shad White has said special agents from his office have served Management & Training Corporation (MTC) with a civil demand totaling nearly $2 million after the company failed to follow the terms of its contract to operate the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) facility in Marshall County. The total demand amount—$1,991,774.10—includes interest and investigative costs.State Auditor Shad White is returning $444,772.26 to taxpayers across Mississippi after previous investigations showed public funds were stolen or misused.
The Auditor's office is still seeking demands from cases it has investigated involving people in Clarksdale and Coahoma County that are several years old and involved over $1 million in alleged fraud of public funds.
As part of its contract to operate the MDOC prison in Marshall County, MTC developed minimum mandatory staffing levels to ensure the safety of inmates and prison staff. The Auditor’s investigation revealed MTC failed to appropriately notify and credit MDOC when its staffing levels at the Marshall County facility fell below the minimum amount required by the contract. The Auditor’s demand accounts for nearly 12,000 unfilled mandatory shifts at the Marshall County facility from 2017 to 2020.
“This is one of the larger demands we’ve issued in my time in office. Our investigators have proven we will take on the biggest cases down to the smallest to protect taxpayer dollars,” said Auditor White. “We look forward to a swift recovery of these funds.”
If MTC does not make payment on the demand within 30 days, the case will be transmitted to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office for litigation.
Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor’s office online at any time by clicking the red button at www.osa.ms.gov or via telephone during normal business hours at 1-(800)-321-1275.
Coahoma County
The State Auditor’s office has also revealed and issued demands for several alleged embezzlement cases in Coahoma County that have yet to be prosecuted.
On Dec. 8, 2015, former CPU Office Manager Maple Melton was indicted on nine counts of embezzlement.
A formal demand in the amount of $3,871.92 was issued on Dec. 14, 2015. On March 17, 2017, this case was transmitted to the Office of the Attorney General. For Fiscal Year 2021, no payments have been received as of this summer. Melton is currently awaiting trial.
In a similar investigation by the State Auditor two former Coahoma Community College employees were charged in one of the largest embezzlement schemes at that time after a year of investigation by the state auditor’s office led to a demand of over $900,000 in September 2018.
White said multiple cards were being used and, as Stacie NEAL and Gwendolyn Jefferson kept everything a secret, the amount of money they were spending increased. He added they were going on to the Amazon website and purchasing items such as watches, shoes and a chandelier. They also purchased gifts for their friends.
That case was also listed as pending in Coahoma County Circuit Court and a 2021 Exceptions Report by the State Audit Department said no repayment has been made at that time.
According to White, at a press conference in the Coahoma County Courthouse at the time the charges were announced, the investigation concluded Stacie Neal of the CCC accounts payable business office and administrative assistant Gwendolyn Jefferson embezzled an estimated $758,000 from 2013-17.
In June the State Auditor’s office has also revealed and issued demands for several alleged embezzlement cases in Coahoma County that have yet to be prosecuted.
A former Clarksdale Public Utilities employee was charged with embezzlement in June of 2022 following an investigation by the State Audit Department.
Auditor White said at that time special agents from his office arrested Shoral Bound, the former lead cashier for the Clarksdale Public Utilities.
White said Bounds was indicted for embezzlement by a Coahoma County grand jury. A $182,771.97 demand letter was presented to her upon arrest. The demand letter includes interest and investigative expenses.
Bounds is accused of embezzling customer utility payments and manipulating the computer systems to show that her daily collections were less than she collected.
