Missouri

Audit: Clerk in town of 500 misappropriated $300,000

Published September 16, 2020 1:24 PM

O'FALLON, Mo. (AP)

A state audit released Wednesday accuses the former clerk of a tiny town in remote northeast Missouri of spending more than $300,000 in taxpayer money on concerts, vacations and other personal needs.

Tracey Ray, the former clerk of Center, Missouri, hasn't been criminally charged with financial crimes, but she is facing four felony charges for an exchange of gunfire. The shooting injured the Ralls County sheriff and a deputy on July 2, 2019, the day city officials questioned her about financial concerns.

Ray also was injured. She was fired the next day.

Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway calls the alleged financial wrongdoing "egregious."

Article Topic Follows: Missouri

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Matthew Sanders

Matthew Sanders is the digital content director at ABC 17 News.

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