The Orange County District Attorney’s office has announced the arrest and arraignment of a former state auditor who allegedly stole more than $400,000 from the Town of Wallkill while auditing their books beginning in 2022.
Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said Tobias Otieno, 41, of Hyde Park, was charged with second-degree grand larceny as a public corruption crime, a felony.
The complaint, which was filed in the Town of New Windsor Justice Court, alleges that between June 23, 2022, and Sept. 1, 2024, Otieno was employed as an auditor for the New York State Comptroller’s office and was assigned to perform an audit of the Town of Wallkill.
His audit duties included an analysis of financial operations, payroll procurements and non-payroll disbursements.
The complaint alleges Otieno was provided access to Town of Wallkill bank accounts and various financial documents during the audit. Through the use of his public office, Otieno allegedly stole approximately $405,843.25 in U.S. currency belonging to the Town of Wallkill by transferring funds from town bank accounts to his personal business accounts.
The case was jointly investigated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Hoovler’s office, under the auspices of the Orange County White-collar Crimes Taskforce.
On July 10, police officers from the sheriff’s office and Hoovler’s office, aided by members of the state comptroller’s office, executed a search warrant at Otieno’s Hyde Park residence.
The investigation revealed no misconduct by any officers or employees of the Town of Wallkill, Hoovler said.
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a statement his office was “outraged by this former employee’s actions and betrayal of trust.”
“The use of a governmental position to steal public monies is a most serious offense that warrants severe punishment,” Hoovler said in a statement issued by his office.
In a July 11 statement, Town of Wallkill Supervisor George Serrano said the town “takes its responsibility to safeguard public funds very seriously” and will “continue to provide full transparency to our residents as more information becomes available.”
“We also want to reassure the public that our financial processes are strong and continue to be reviewed and strengthened to prevent any similar incidents in the future,” Serrano said.
The case is scheduled to return to the Town of Wallkill Court on July 30.
The name of Otieno’s attorney was not immediately available.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Former NY state auditor accused of stealing more than $400K from the Town of Wallkill
Reporting by Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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