Fire board chief quits after audit

Report lists personal charges

The executive director of the Arkansas Fire Protection Licensing Board, Catherine Gray, has resigned after $15,426 was improperly charged to her state credit card in violation of state policy, state records show.

Gray submitted her resignation prior to a special board meeting April 25 that was called to present preliminary information contained in a report from the state Office of Accounting's Internal Audit Section, and the board accepted Gray's resignation during the meeting, according to a 14-page draft audit report released Friday by the accounting office.

Gray worked for the board from June 2010 through April 24, 2014, and her annual salary was $34,681, said Kay Terry, director of the state Office of Personnel Management.

In a letter dated April 24 to board Chairman James Thompson of Clarendon, Gray wrote that, "Effective immediately, I would like to submit my resignation as the Board's executive director."

Neither Thompson nor Gray could be reached for comment Friday.

The fire board was created in 1977 by the Legislature to monitor the servicing and installation of portable fire extinguishers, fixed fire-suppression systems and fire sprinkler systems and to register and to license businesses and persons providing such services, according to the board's website . The board aims to minimize both personal injury and property damage, which might result from improperly installed or improperly maintained fire-extinguishing systems.

Ricky Quattlebaum, administrator of internal audit for the state Office of Accounting, said in a draft report that auditors found that $8,519 in personal purchases were made through a state credit card issued to Gray, including $7,042 in personal items, $940 in gift cards and $537 in nontravel-related meals. Another $6,907 in purchases lacked proper documentation.

He said the $7,042 in personal items purchased through the credit card assigned to Gray included $1,639 in Facebook charges, possibly for expenses such as purchasing games; $641 for personal electric bills; $393 for prescription medications; $321 for gasoline; $150 for her daughter's car repair; and other items such as cigarettes, beer, dog food and supplies, clothing, movies, groceries, and toiletries.

Gray has admitted to using the state-issued credit card for $4,371 of these purchases, the draft report said.

Gray wrote a personal check to reimburse the board for the Facebook charges April 1, and the board deposited the check April 22, the report said.

The draft report said the credit card assigned to Gray was used to purchase $940 in gift cards, but no legitimate business use could be determined by auditors.

The credit card assigned to Gray was used to purchase nontravel-related meals totaling $537, including meals at the office when employees worked through lunch or for day trips to perform inspections, but reimbursement for meals is only allowed in connection with overnight travel under state travel regulations, the report said.

The draft report recommends that the board seek to recover $6,845 from Gray for personal purchases, gift cards and nontravel-related purchases.

Gray was issued a state credit card March 15, 2012, and it was temporarily suspended March 5, 2014, by the state Office of Procurement, the report said.

The draft report also recommended the board seek to recover $219 from Gray for improper reimbursements for personal expenses.

The report also noted that administrative assistant Patricia White had been awarded a $100-a-month janitorial contract to clean the board's office, and White was paid a total of $1,800 in 2012 and 2013 under the contract, the report said.

White told auditors that the office was cleaned during her normal working hours, and the state's accounting administrator Paul Louthian informed her April 23 that the contract would immediately end, according to the report. She failed to disclose her benefit from the contract to the finance department as required under state law, the report said.

Louthian said the draft report won't become final until after the board responds to it in writing.

Metro on 05/10/2014

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