Watson Twp. hires forensic accountants

WATSON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - Watson Township leaders voted on Thursday night to hire a forensic accounting firm to determine exactly how much money the Allegan County community lost in an alleged embezzlement scheme.

Township treasurer Stephanie Bogdan was arraigned earlier the same day on a felony embezzlement charge.

In court documents, investigators said about $51,000 has gone missing from the township since February.

Bogdan declined to comment to 24 Hour News 8.

Michigan Forensic Auditors, Inc. is set to begin work immediately after a board member and her husband raised questions at the township meeting about the safety of financial records -- and whether the accused treasurer wanted to get at them.

"My biggest concern is something is going to happen to those computers," Township Clerk Kelli Morris said.

Her husband said authorities had to be called when the treasurer appeared at township offices. He said they were concerned she was trying to break in.

Board Trustee Rod Zeinstra said that a law enforcement report was made after locks were changed on the building and the treasurer -- who was not told about the locks -- came to work.

Zeinstra earlier asked for more time to review the forensic accounting firm decision. A representative of Michigan Forensic Auditors attended the meeting and a representative of Plante & Moran sent a letter. But ultimately, the board voted to move forward with Michigan Forensic.

Referencing the alleged $51,000 loss, township resident Abbe Siver came to the meeting wanting to know if any of the money can be retrieved.

"This is a small township," she noted in an interview with 24 Hour News 8.

Restitution could ultimately come from the criminal process.

But Karl Heiser of Michigan Forensic Auditors said that, based upon his experience, the amount lost can be three times as large as initially thought.

All that money potentially lost in a small town led resident Nancy Counterman to another question.

"How is this affecting our budget right now?" she asked at the meeting. "Is something going to be cut out?"

Township Supervisor Candy Adrianson said she can't truly answer that question right now. Records are being reviewed, she said, but right now it's business as usual.

Investigators said it was the supervisor who initially noticed financial problems, prompting the county sheriff department's investigation.

24 Hour News 8 asked her if, in retrospect, there was something she noticed that suggested there was a problem prior to that.

"I think we caught it as quickly as we could," Adrianson said.

Bogdan remains on the payroll because she is an elected official who has not resigned or been convicted.