A former COTA payroll administrator will have to repay more than $13,000 to the agency after admitting that she manipulated retired employee’s payroll records to pocket extra cash.
Ashanti Powell, 46, of Pickerington, pleaded guilty under a plea deal to telecommunications harassment on May 18. Minutes later, Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Carl Aveni sentenced Powell to five years of community control.
Aveni also ordered Powell to pay $13,611 in restitution to COTA.
An investigation into Powell had been launched by the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit in 2022 after Powell had already resigned from COTA. Powell resigned, the auditor’s office said, after a retired employee reached out to the payroll department after the retiree received a federal W-2 tax form for earnings.
According to the auditor’s office, Powell manipulated payroll submissions for retired employees, allowing her to pocket unearned money. Powell would enter work hours for at least two former employees and modify their direct deposit information so the money went into Powell’s bank account, court records say.
Powell stole more than $13,000 between 2019 and 2022, the auditor’s office determined.
Other payroll discrepancies were also found during the investigation, such as unapproved pay rates and vacation sell-backs, the auditor’s office said.
As part of the plea deal, charges of theft in office and tampering with records were dismissed.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former COTA payroll administrator admits she stole thousands
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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