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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA former secretary in the Pike Township trustee’s office could face criminal charges after an internal investigation and state audit found that she used a township credit card to fill up her own gas tank.
The State Board of Accounts referred Nicki Robinson’s case to the local prosecutor and Indiana attorney general after concluding that she misspent $3,241 in taxpayer money.
Township governments have a reputation for profligate spending, but Pike Township showed a certain determination in ferreting out Robinson. Township officials provided the auditors with videotape, which showed Robinson filling up her vehicle on three occasions. The time stamp on the tape matched the use of the fuel card with her assigned PIN, according to the audit.
Township Trustee Lula Patton didn’t return a phone call from IBJ. Her office contacted the State Board of Accounts last July about a possible misappropriation, as required by state law, according to the audit report, which was released on May 16. The auditors also noted that the State Board of Accounts first received information about misuse of a fuel card in May 2012.
Robinson worked for the township from March 2011 until June 2012.•
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