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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png\nSmart Cities Council\nCo-op Solutions\nAmerican City & County Awards\nMunicipal Cost Index – Archive\nReprints & Reuse\nMunicipal Cost Index\nSubscribe to AC&C\nManage AC&C Subscription\nSubscribe to GovPro\nManage GovPro Subscription\nPrivacy Stament\nSmart Cities & Technology\nFormer California city employee pleads guilty to embezzling over $600,000\nA former employee of the Glendale, Calif. City Attorney’s office has agreed to plead guilty to embezzling nearly $610,000 in taxpayer dollars over a 17-year period.\nWritten by Jason Axelrod\nCassandra Alexander, who resided in the Winnetka neighborhood of Los Angeles, was charged with one count of theft from an organization receiving federal funds, MyNewsLA reports. A plea agreement was reached later that day.\n“With the fact that the plea agreement also includes restitution, [Glendale] will be able to be made whole and get the people’s money back,” city spokesman Tom Lorenz told the Glendale News-Press.\nAs part of her job as claims and litigation support supervisor, Alexander assembled “settlement packets,” which were used to settle personal injury and property damage claims against the city, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.\nThese packets contained settlement approval from a member of the city council and the city attorney’s office and gave authorization for the city’s attorney office to send out a check to the claimant. Alexander was also responsible for picking up the checks and giving them to claimants’ attorneys, per MyNewsLA.\nWith unlimited authority to direct the city’s finance department to issue checks, Alexander created and submitted fraudulent settlement packets that made the finance department create 30 checks for her family and acquaintances, MyNewsLA reports. The fraudulent claimants would then cash the checks and send the money to her, per the plea agreement.\nThe prosecution team also claimed that Alexander faked council meeting minutes to better legitimize the fraudulent checks, the News-Press reports.\n\"The security of public funds and, more importantly, the public’s trust is paramount. There is nothing more that destroys this than an employee's unlawful actions,” Glendale Mayor Vartan Gharpelian said in a city news release.\nCity staff had reported a disparity in the settlement of a damages claim in March 2017, a Glendale news release notes. Glendale investigators subsequently seized and cancelled an $82,500 check Alexander had issued to a relative, per the News-Press and the Glendale news release. The city subsequently suspended Alexander four days later, and Alexander resigned just over a month later, per the news release.\nThe city ultimately turned the investigation over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, “because the federal penalties are generally more severe,” the city news release notes. Alexander faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, the News-Press reports.\n“The City of Glendale is fortunate to have partnerships with our federal agencies. Our city staff and police department worked closely with the US Attorney’s Office, as well as agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to ensure that justice was served, and Ms. Alexander was held accountable for her actions,” Gharpelian said in the news release.\nTo get connected and stay up-to-date with similar content from American City & County:\nTags: Economy News Article\nCities propose various strategies to fix pension problems\nAcross the country, cities are proposing and implementing multiple strategies in attempts to reduce pension deficits. Princeton, Ill., officials plan to institute a 2 percent increase in taxes over last year, unanimously approving a first reading of the ordinance to institute the levy on Dec. 3, BCRNews reports. The city’s police pension is funded at […]\nAspen joins growing list of cities to ban the sale of flavored nicotine products\nAdd Aspen, Colo., to the growing list of cities banning the sale of flavored nicotine products in an effort to curb what some experts are calling an epidemic of teen “vaping.” “It is, I think, our duty on council and in government to protect public health, and this ban, which I fully support, not only […]\nA look at how governments are tackling food waste (part one)\nPart one of a three-part series this week looks at how some governments large and small are dealing with food scraps.\nCity security: How Fort Lauderdale deals with cyber threats\nWith city security in the limelight, much can be learned from looking at how the city of Fort Lauderdale has evolved following a 2014 cyberattack.\nLog in with your American City and County account\nDetroit police arrest muralist painting city-commissioned art\nMayors weigh in on shutdown throughout conference in Washington\nConnecticut mayors unite to advocate for city recovery of opioid crisis damages\nState takeover of Atlantic City to last until 2021\nAsset Management for Dummies\nEmergency Ready: How the Best Procurement Teams are Preparing for the Worst\nWhy a Security Breach Response Plan is Key\nThe @LACity #government is making a lot of noise about @FAANews's actions that have caused unwanted #aircraft racke… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…\nJennifer Dowd at #workforcemanagement #software and services company @KronosInc explains the small but effective ac… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…\nWatch this #webinar via @icompasstech to learn the dangers of unsecured #municipal board #communications and receiv… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…\n. @detroitpolice apprehended a city-commissioned artist painting a public #mural, believing he was vandalizing prop… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…\n. @CityRichmondVA Mayor @LevarStoney wants to ban #firearms on city-owned property in the wake of the recent shoot… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…\nWith 40% of Americans 15 and up being obese, the U.S. has the largest #obesity rate of adults in the world, accordi… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…\n#SanFrancisco has become the first city in the country to ban the sale of e-cigarettes despite opposition from loca… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…\nSchool and neighborhood ranking site @NicheSocial used @uscensusbureau #data to determine which U.S. #counties have… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…\nSign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.\nLearn from experts in the public and private sectors about best practices and how to optimize your government’s operations.\nUpdated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services\nWant to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.\n© American City and County 2019. All rights reserved.\nIWCE’s Urgent Communications\nIWCE Expo\nWebsites are now required by law to gain your consent before applying cookies. We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Parts of the website may not work as expected without them. By closing or ignoring this message, you are consenting to our use of cookies."