Credit card misuse dominates five major fraud investigations from the past year, totaling $400,000 in misappropriations

Credit card use, when left unchecked, can lead to serious consequences—as our fraud investigation specialists discovered in five noteworthy cases over the past year. 

We’re highlighting these cases during Fraud Awareness Week because they underscore both the importance of government accountability and the value of the State Auditor’s Office resources that help governments prevent fraud. 

A common thread runs through each case: The use of department credit cards without proper oversight. To help mitigate these risks, our Office has developed our exclusive Best practices for credit card programs resource (PDF), which pairs well with our blog post on regularly reviewing your credit card inventory. 

Together, these resources offer guidance that can help you avoid the challenges that these five local governments experienced.

The small town of Metaline

Metaline in Pend Oreille County has a population of less than 200 people and an annual budget of less than $500,000. Our investigation found that over the course of six years, the town’s Clerk-Treasurer used a multi-scheme approach to misappropriate more than $225,000. This included $174,000 in personal credit card charges for groceries, alcohol, pet supplies, food delivery and more. 

The Clerk-Treasurer had full access to Metaline’s accounting system, credit cards and bank accounts. This access, combined with a lack of oversight, afforded her the ability to make these unallowable personal purchases. The Metaline fraud investigation report can be viewed here (PDF). 

The even smaller town of Latah 

During our regularly scheduled assessment audit of this 170-person town, we identified a potential loss of public funds related to unusual and unsupported credit card transactions and payroll disbursements.  

We determined the town’s Clerk-Treasurer misappropriated $62,000 in credit and debit card charges, plus another $15,000 through other methods. Among the misappropriated charges were gas for the Clerk-Treasurer’s personal vehicle and monthly car payments.  

The town’s internal controls were not adequate to safeguard public resources. The Latah fraud investigation report can be viewed here (PDF). 

Grant County Fire Protection District No. 4 

Grant County Fire Protection District No. 4 provides fire suppression services in the City of Warden and employs a full-time Fire Chief to oversee the District’s daily operations. The Fire Chief has key financial responsibilities including monitoring the use of the District’s petty cash bank account and its credit cards. 

Over a two-year period, an investigation by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office determined the Fire Chief misappropriated 103 petty cash checks that the Fire Chief wrote to himself and cashed, totaling $33,373. Our Office’s expanded review discovered an additional $12,879 in questionable credit card purchases. 

The Fire Chief was ordered to pay restitution and sentenced to three months in jail plus community service. View the Grant County Fire Protection District No. 4 fraud investigation report here (PDF).

Back to a small town: Springdale 

Earlier this year, our Office issued its third fraud investigation report in less than a decade for the town of Springdale, population 300. The report found that the same Clerk-Treasurer, who we previously investigated, had misappropriated an additional $51,173 in town funds between 2020 and 2025. The report also concluded that the Mayor misappropriated thousands of dollars. 

Our review of the town’s bank statements identified $2,348 in debit card misuse related to vehicle repairs and tattoo supplies. We also found more than $59,000 in questionable purchases that lacked supporting documentation and, in many cases, were never recorded in the town’s accounting system. 

The bottom line: Springdale lacked essential financial controls. No one other than the Mayor or Clerk-Treasurer reviewed the town’s bank statements, allowing unsupported transactions and questionable debit card purchases to appear month after month without anyone asking questions. 

Read more in our blog post about the repeated misappropriations in Springdale, or access the full Town of Springdale fraud investigation report here (PDF).  

The Northwest Seaport Alliance 

While reconciling April 2025 credit card charges, an account manager at the Northwest Seaport Alliance identified questionable charges made on an Executive Administrative Specialist’s card. The Specialist indicated the card had been stolen but did not report this theft or otherwise notify the bank unauthorized charges occurred. 

A subsequent investigation found the Specialist made nearly $9,000 in personal charges, most of which went to an online payment processing account held in the Specialist’s name. The Specialist also made $710 in personal meal charges and a hotel charge. The Northwest Seaport Alliance fraud investigation report can be viewed here (PDF).

Fraud prevention resources 

In addition to investigating misappropriations, the State Auditor’s Office offers dozens of resources to help governments safeguard public resources and meet accounting requirements. Among them:  

• A key guide, Trust, But Verify (PDF), shows elected officials and other oversight personnel how to establish effective controls and prevent fraud.  

• In a widely read blog post, we explain why reviewing bank statements is important, and what government leaders should look for during this simple document review.  

• Another resource, the Segregation of Duties (PDF) guide, explains how accounting departments of all sizes can implement appropriate reviews and controls.  

• Washington governments lost more than $36 million between 2016 and 2024 when government employees didn’t spot fraudulent “change payment” requests. Print and display our Change payment requests: Six signs of a scam poster (PDF) to remind your office how to stay vigilant. 

• The Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) was enacted to make the conduct of government more accessible and open to the public, which plays a key role in fraud prevention. Our OPMA guides, best practices and checklists are designed to help governments comply with this legislation.