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An investigation into the City of Eldridge spending has resulted in a case that may be complex, says Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham.

On Thursday, Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand released a report on a special investigation of the City of Eldridge spending, according to a news release from Sand’s office.

Eldridge city officials requested the report because of concerns about “certain financial transactions” processed by former City Clerk Denise Benson, the release says.

“As far as white-collar cases in general, you know, they’re just like any other crime. Essentially, it’s a theft. It just really comes down to the magnitude of the theft and what it’s going to take by way of investigative resources to go through all of the documentation and follow the paper trail from beginning to end,” Cunningham told Local 4 News.

White collar crime is a nonviolent kind of crime often involving deceptive money transactions. (For example, embezzlement, money laundering and corporate fraud are white collar crimes.)

The Eldridge case involves multiple agencies. The Scott County Sheriff’s Office has released a statement that it is investigating Benson “based off a financial crime,” and that the State of Iowa Auditor’s Office is assisting in the investigation.

“With respect to any type of investigation, you might have multiple agencies involved,” Cunningham told Local 4 News. “And it’s dictated by whatever special circumstance is present.”

“It may be that the subject matter of the crime requires a certain expertise,” Cunningham said. “And so therefore you would reach out to an entity that might have that subject matter expertise that they can bring to the table and help with the investigation itself.”

The report covers a period from Jan. 1, 2017, through Oct. 31, 2022. Sand reported the special investigation identified $76,171.90 of improper disbursements, and $8,718.18 of unsupported disbursements.

Sand also reported the improper disbursements identified includes sales tax, late fees, and finance charges on the city’s credit card.

According to the release, the $8,718.18 of unsupported disbursements identified includes $6,325.76 of purchases made with the city’s credit cards and $2,392.42 of payments made from the city’s checking account. Sand reported it “was not possible to determine the propriety of these credit card charges and disbursements because adequate documentation was not maintained to determine if they were for City operations or personal in nature.”

“As prosecutors, we cannot engage in investigative functions,” Cunningham said. “So the law enforcement agency that is tasked with that investigation will handle all aspects of that investigation.”

The improper disbursements identified includes:

• $42,384.74 of personal purchases made with the city’s credit card
• $1,138.89 of unauthorized payroll issued to Benson and related payroll costs
• $16,515.15 of payment to Benson’s Capital One Credit card bill
• $16,133.12 of payments to other vendors via check or online payment.

Local 4 News will continue to follow this case at it develops.

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