New report of money missing from Boise County coffers

A month after felony charges were filed against a former Boise County employee suspected of embezzling nearly $47,000, more county money has gone missing, according to county officials.

Boise County Prosecutor Jolene Maloney said Thursday night that $1,700 is missing.

“The matter is currently under investigation. It is not clear whether a crime occurred or not at this time,” Maloney said.

County Commissioner Alan Ward said the county money went missing a couple of weeks ago. Idaho State Police is investigating.

Ward said the money was lost while being transferred from the Clerk’s Office to the Treasurer’s Office. Both offices are inside the same historic building, the old Miner’s Exchange at 420 Main St.

Clerk Mary Prisco notified commissioners about the missing money at one of their Tuesday meetings. Ward said the money handoff occurred on a Friday, and Prisco discovered the money was gone the following Monday.

“It’s just such a strange occurrence. There was no opportunity it wouldn’t be discovered,” Ward said. “The very first thing we did was go back and ask everyone to look around ... We wanted to give everyone an opportunity to see if they couldn’t find it.”

The Idaho City World newspaper broke the news of the missing money on Wednesday. The weekly paper reported that more than one county employee had been placed on administrative leave since the incident occurred, and Commissioner Ward confirmed that. He declined to say how many employees.

Deputy Prosecutor Jay Rosenthal told the paper that the missing cash was in $100 bills in a single envelope. Polygraph tests were given to several county employees, he said.

Ward said he had heard from four constituents who wanted to know why county money has gone missing again.

In October, former county Clerk’s Office employee Rana Klingner was charged with two felony counts of grand theft. Klingner was accused of wrongfully taking cash, checks and/or money orders in the amount of $46,922.33 over a two-year period.

Acting as special prosecutor on the case, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office filed the charges against Klingner. The Boise County Prosecutor’s Office has reassumed responsibility for prosecuting the case, according to online court records.

“The conflict of interest that previously existed with Mr. [Ian] Gee in office resolved itself when he left the Boise County Prosecutor’s Office to pursue his private practice,” Maloney said.

Last week, a former Horseshoe Bend School District employee was sentenced for felony misuse of public funds. Former business manager Robb Greiner stole more than $50,000 from the school district. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but that sentenced was suspended, and he was ordered to do six months in jail.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 7:45 PM with the headline "New report of money missing from Boise County coffers."