Township files suit against former treasurer

By RICHARD JENKINS

rjenkins@yourdailyglobe.com

Bessemer — Ironwood Township has filed a lawsuit in Gogebic County Circuit Court against former township treasurer Jyl Olson-DeRosso.

The suit, filed June 15, is seeking “in excess of $1.2 million in damages” it says were the result of Olson-DeRosso’s alleged embezzlement while treasurer.

Township treasurer Steve Boyd told the Daily Globe this number could fluctuate up or down as a forensic accountant completes a review of the township’s finances and more information is uncovered.

Boyd also clarified that this value includes other damages and township expenses related to the investigation — including the money spent on an independent accountant to review the finances, the cost of the state audit and salaries of the employees who gathered documents during the investigation — and isn’t necessarily representative of the amount of money Olson-DeRosso allegedly took.

“We included things like (portions of salaries) since this started, that’s in there as well. I’d consider those to be damages more than stolen money,” Boyd said.

While Olson-DeRosso is also facing 10 felony charges in connection to her alleged embezzlement, the civil suit goes beyond the $196,862 figure and five-year time frame Gogebic County Prosecutor Nick Jacobs cited when Olson-DeRosso’s charges were announced.

Jacobs accused Olson-DeRosso of issuing checks to herself and taking cash funds in the amount of $114,470 from the tax fund and $81,392 from the trust and agency fund — for a total amount of $196,862 in the five-year period between 2011 and 2016.

The lawsuit alleges Olson-DeRosso wrote checks to herself, to the township as cash and to her grandmother in the total amounts of $96,996 from the Trust and Agency account and $125,150 from the tax fund between 2010 and 2016.

In a year-by-year breakdown of the checks, the suit alleges checks totaling $1,295 from the Trust and Agency account were cashed in 2010 and another $900 taken from the tax fund that year.

Further, the lawsuit seeks damages beyond the two accounts that serve as the basis of criminal charges.

Among those additional damages are $294,000 allegedly in cash payments not deposited between 2010 and 2016.

“Despite the township receiving cash payments, on average, (of) $3,500 per month based on utility and garbage accounts, defendant, as township treasurer, failed to account for such cash or otherwise make cash deposits,” the suit reads. “During the period between 2010 and 2016, it is estimated defendant diverted $294,000 of public monies to herself for her own use and benefit.”

The suit also lists $268,000 in shortfalls from the water and sewer accounts between 2013 and 2015, but doesn’t clarify how much of this the suit is accusing Olson-DeRosso of taking.

Boyd said the final amount would need to be determined by the forensic auditor.

In addition to various cash payments that weren’t deposited and shortfalls in the water and sewer funds, the suit alleges there was a $106,547 difference the amount of 2016 tax revenue collected and deposited in the bank and that Olson-DeRosso “failed to distribute tax revenue funds owed to units of government in accordance with the Michigan General Property Tax Act.”

As of June 5, the lawsuit claims $842,653 in 2016 tax revenue is owed to various units of government, accusing Olson-DeRosso of diverting the funds for her own use.

The suit also claims Olson-DeRosso cashed a $100,000 certificate of deposit in the summer of 2015, prior to its maturation date, without the township board’s authorization or knowledge.

“These funds were improperly held and/or deposited in the tax fund,” the suit said, adding a later certificate of deposit was then improperly purchased from the tax fund.

This allegation was also included as a finding in the recent Michigan Department of Treasury audit report, which was presented at the June 12 township board meeting.

Olson-DeRosso didn’t return a Daily Globe call seeking comment on the suit prior to print deadline.

The next court action in the case is scheduled for July 6.