By DAVID A. MANN
JEFFERSONVILLE — As allegations of credit card abuse in Jeffersonville’s clerk-treasurer’s office began circulating last summer, city council attorney Larry Wilder — ex-husband of Clerk-Treasurer Peggy Wilder — brought The Evening News a public document of a personal nature: His divorce decree.
It said that $22,000 worth of credit card debt — accrued in the name of Peggy Wilder and no one else — was to be paid off by his family as a part of the divorce.
Fast-forward about five months: An Indiana State Board of Accounts audit for 2007 says Peggy Wilder used the city’s tax identification number to obtain a Fifth Third Bank credit card years ago, which she used for purchases not documented as city business. The city council also authorized her to obtain a Republic Bank credit card for travel purposes, which was used for city and noncity business.
The audit says about $20,000 in personal charges were made on the Fifth Third card between 2003 and 2008. About $50,000 in charges were made to the account from 2000-02, but the audit says no vendor history was available from the city, so the nature of the purchases could not be determined. The charges to both cards were paid for.
Also, about $2,000 was repaid to the city by Peggy Wilder for money withdrawn from its account by Fifth Third bank for delinquent credit card bills.
Also, more than $15,000 in charges on a Republic Bank credit card were repaid by someone other than the city. No invoices, receipts or other documentation was presented to the board of accounts, even though those were requested.
The divorce decree that Larry Wilder brought to The Evening News over the summer did not match the one being kept on file in the Scott County court where the divorce was made final.
The Scott County Circuit Court’s copy of the divorce decree contained a key phrase that was not in the copy Larry Wilder provided the paper.
The court’s version said that the debt had been accrued in the name of Peggy Wilder and “another entity.” The version provided by Larry Wilder said the debt was accrued by Peggy Wilder only.
Page five of the two documents contains the discrepancies.
The space between the letters on that page was slightly different in the two documents. The print was slightly lighter in spots on page five of the decree provided by Larry Wilder, as well.
And the paper on which page five was printed was of a different weight than the rest of the document provided by Larry Wilder.
He said he couldn’t explain the difference between the two files.
“The copy [of the divorce decree] I have in my file says that [the debt] was in her name,” he said. “Divorce decrees are amended all the time.”
He says the difference likely was the result of an amendment to the decree, which took place before he got an updated copy.
The audit, which was released Dec. 31, detailed Peggy Wilder’s use of city credit cards, saying that one account was created using the city’s tax identification information with no indication that it had been used for anything more than personal business.
The funds questioned in the audit were paid back by the Wilders — who were married at the time — never by the taxpayers, according to the audit and Larry Wilder.
He said he did not know the cards were issued to the city, rather than his ex-wife.
“I have no reason to believe anything other than what she told me,” he said.
He said he believes Peggy Wilder might have thought that the cards were hers personally, as well.
“There’s no question that she used that card in a manner consistent with what she believed,” he said.
The audit also says Peggy Wilder received a pay advance for a vacation in the amount of $2,687, and went years without the insurance bond required under state statute.
The vacation advance meant she was overpaid for 2006 and the overpayment was not reconciled until mid-2007. Indiana code says that public officials cannot draw salaries in advance. The clerk-treasurer is paid $61,000 annually.
At least 10 phone calls over the past two weeks and a message were left at the clerk-treasurer’s office for Peggy Wilder, but went unreturned.
No city records
After receiving the contradictory divorce decrees last summer, representatives from The Evening News showed the information to city Councilman Ron Grooms, who chairs Jeffersonville’s budget and finance committee.
Grooms had been contacted because open records requests for the credit card statements had been unfulfilled in the past. The councilman says he checked city records and he, too, had been unable to find credit card statements.
The State Board of Accounts reported in the audit that it had to get copies of credit card statements from the banks that issued them, noting that the city didn’t have them available.
Reactions to the audit
Grooms said there had been a suspicion among council members that personal spending had taken place in the clerk-treasurer’s office, but there were never any records available to corroborate the accusations.
“It looks like our suspicions are true,” he said in an interview Thursday, after reading the audit. “I don’t know what our options are,” he said. “I certainly don’t think this should be covered up, and don’t think the council should come to her defense.
“The citizens of Jeffersonville deserve an explanation of why this occurred — an apology is in order,” he said.
Council President Connie Sellers said she was happy to see that all the money was returned. However, she said, because Peggy Wilder is an elected office holder, there is little the council can do.
“We cannot do anything; the only ones who can do anything are the voters,” she said.
“I’m not going to condemn anyone. I’m not going to say she should resign. She has to answer to the voters,” Sellers said.
Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan declined to comment on the issue. The audit covers 2007, the year before Galligan became mayor for a second time.
Findings sent to prosecutor
State Board of Accounts office supervisor Charles Pride said this morning that audit findings would be sent to the Clark County prosecutor’s office.
“The contents of the report warrant that someone else do an investigation,” he said, noting the submission of the findings to the prosecutor is not necessarily a recommendation on charges being filed.
“All we do is report noncompliance with the accounting guidelines in our manuals,” he said.
