A 9 a.m. April 22 arraignment is scheduled in Jasper County Circuit Court for former Carthage parks director Mark Peterson, who was bound over for trial Monday on stealing and money laundering charges.
Peterson was taking money from the operation of the municipal golf course and depositing it into multiple bank accounts labeled as "Mark Peterson DBA Pete's Pro Shop," the statement said.
More information from the probable cause statement can be found at the link below.
The Turner Report: Former Carthage Parks Director charged with stealing $142,000, money laundering (rturner229.blogspot.com)
The Turner Report: Former Carthage Parks Director charged with stealing $142,000, money laundering (rturner229.blogspot.com)
13 comments:
I bet he is ultimately cleared.
🤣🤣🤣
I bet he goes to jail, as he should.
Lol
Carthage City Council will pardon him as soon as he's convicted!
The council can’t pardon him, that’s an ignorant comment. And from what I’ve read and heard , he wasn’t stealing. He had a legit business and was transferring money from his sales at the pro shop and from tournaments into it, like he had done for decades. The new mayor and public administrator were digging to find something on him. Because in my opinion, Dagnan and Rife are as crooked as they come.
And from what I’ve read and heard , he wasn’t stealing. He had a legit business and was transferring money from his sales at the pro shop and from tournaments into it, like he had done for decades.������������
Hmmmm.
"LIKE HE HAD DONE FOR DECADES", That might be true, but it might not cut it as a defense to the charges!
Previously on Turner Report:
The allegations against Peterson are detailed in the probable cause statement:
On 12/20/2022 the Carthage Police Department was contacted in reference to a possible theft of fuel at the Carthage Parks Department.
During the course of the initial investigation, it was determined that there were also issues with the financials of the Parks Department. After several interviews with Parks Department and City of Carthage golf course employees, it was determined that a large amount of currency missing from the City of Carthage bank account that should have been deposited from the golf course.
A subsequent investigation occurred, and during that investigation, Mark Peterson had been identified as the suspect for the theft of city funds.
During this investigation, an investigative subpoena was sent to multiple banks for the financial information of Peterson. It was later discovered that Peterson had multiple different accounts of “Mark Peterson DBA Petes Pro Shop."
After speaking with several employees at the Carthage Golf Course it was discovered that Mark Peterson was the only person that handled large amounts of cash used for payments, tournament checks, and the daily cash deposits (until near the end of 2022).
Peterson was also responsible for providing the City of Carthage with spreadsheets, transaction reports, and revenue reports. An accounting firm, BerganKDV, was contacted in reference to a forensic audit of the city accounts and subpoena information that had been obtained for Mark Peterson.
BerganKDV later sent a Summary Report for their findings. Through the course of the forensic audit it was determined that there had been multiple areas throughout the city bank accounts, related to the Carthage Golf Course, that had funds missing. There were discrepancies between cash sales/checks deposited, tournament checks deposited, and gift card purchases/transactions.
The amount missing from the city bank account that was the largest was for golf tournaments paid during the years of 2020-2022. The city did not have $90,844.00 dollars deposited into the expected city account.
The bank accounts belonging to Mark Peterson during the same time period had $91,896.73 additional dollars deposited into them with no explanation as to why there was such a large increase in his personal accounts (receipts, payroll changes, etc.).
The amount of missing funds from the city bank account that was reported by the point of sale software as gift cards was $14,225.67 dollars during the project period of 2020-2022. The amount of missing funds from the city bank account that was reported by the point of sale software as cash sales for day to day golf services at the Carthage Golf Course was $37,392.82 dollars. The point of sale software, transaction documentation, gift cards, credit/debit sales, and cash/check sales were all examined for the time period of 2020-2022.
The total amount of money that was not deposited into City of Carthage bank accounts relating to the Carthage Golf Course was $142,462.49. https://rturner229.blogspot.com/2023/11/former-carthage-parks-director-charged.html
If what he was doing was legal, why not talk to investigators? Seems that would be the thing to do if you did nothing wrong. Yet he refused to.
No one ever wants to believe someone they like, would steal, but it happens frequently. If this happened for decades, why did it start in 2020?
I bet there’s a guilty plea entered, where restitution is ordered.
He committed actions that were Criminal and Fraudulent. As all Criminals, he should be held accountable, sent to jail and be required to pay restitution. He should not be given probation and a slap on the wrist.
Knowling Phil Glades, he will file continuance after continuance, trying to cut a deal for Peterson, if not he will try his usual Denny Crane on the Jurors, no matter what we will see if Phil Glades, still has the courthouse contacts and ability to wheel and deal!
Phil can get the job done he is a great lawyer...how much do you have to spend ?
By Changing Judges - do we see any Potential Conflicts of Interest?
THE HONORABLE MATTHEW R KASPER - Is the New Judge Assigned to the Mark Peterson out of Lawrence County. He attended the University of Arkansas, where he earned his J.D.
Interesting - Philip Glades: attended Law School: University of Arkansas, J.D.
Interesting - Brian Glades: attend Law School: University of Arkansas, J.D.
Shocking, three local attorneys went to one of three law schools within a three hour drive.
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