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Stephanie Wiechmann
Two former parks employees were named in the state Board of Accounts investigation. Program director George Foley, Jr., and assistant Nikki Eckerson. The investigation says Foley did not deposit nearly $15,000 in event fees, rental fees and the like intended for the city. It shows Foley took multiple checks written to the city and either deposited them into his own bank accounts or cash them himself. For others, he had vendors write checks directly to an LLC he owns.

00;00;25;19 - 00;00;45;09
Stephanie Wiechmann
According to the investigation, Eckerson did not deposit more than $6,000 intended for the city. In her job, she took cash payments for cabin and shelter rentals at many of the city parks and entered it into city Software as zeros. The state Board of Accounts request that Foley and Eckerson reimburse the city for that money, and reimburse the state for the cost of the special investigation.

00;00;45;16 - 00;01;09;15
Stephanie Wiechmann
The audit was forwarded to the Indiana Attorney General and Delaware County Prosecutor for any possible charges. The City of Muncie issued a statement on the investigation last week before the audit was publicly available. It said Foley was fired in December 2024 and Eckerson was fired recently. It said, quote, steps have been taken to strengthen oversight, improve financial tracking procedures and ensure greater accountability within the department.

00;01;09;22 - 00;01;11;16
Stephanie Wiechmann
I'm Stephanie Wiechmann in Muncie.