Sedgwick County manager addresses fraud case, investigation

Sedgwick County Manager Michael Scholes says he wants to share details about how the county lost more than half a million dollars to fraud.

But he says he can’t for now.

“I can’t wait to tell you what we have done and how that happened,” Scholes said. “I would love to be able to tell you everything that we have done since.”

But “I can’t speak to the investigation side of it,” he said.

His remarks at the Wichita Pachyderm Club on Friday addressed the fraudulent activity that cost Sedgwick County $566,088.90 in October.

County staff reported fraudulent activity affecting its finance department in late October, triggering a fraud investigation that the FBI has since joined.

An audience member asked if the fraud investigation had been resolved.

“I don’t want to hinder an investigation that by me showing our cards or telling you something that can potentially affect the behavior of a criminal element out there,” Scholes said. “But I can’t wait for the investigation to get over to be able to talk a little bit more.”

“The FBI is all over it. And there are some really sharp cookies out there who are working on this right now.”

Scholes said all organizations face a “different time and age” in a digital environment with sophisticated criminal elements.

“Nobody is safe. It’s just you need to provide a capability to be able to support stopping that. But you got to stay on your toes,” Scholes said. “I look forward to maybe sharing best practices to help other organizations to get better at that.”

Records obtained by The Eagle show an electronic payment never made it to Wichita construction company Cornejo & Sons.

E-mails from county staff show the county reviewed its insurance policy and tried to block additional payments to a vendor in the hours after discovering the fraud.

Scholes gave an update on county government to the Pachyderm Club, a local Republican organization. He discussed his background in the military as a brigadier general as well as his efforts to reshape and streamline the management of the organization.

He also touted the county’s accomplishments this year, such as moving into the Ronald Reagan building in downtown Wichita, opening a community crisis center for Comcare and choosing a site for a new law enforcement training center.

Scholes became county manager in November of 2015.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Sedgwick County manager addresses fraud case, investigation."