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FBI also looking at forensic audit of Petersburg treasurer’s office

Posted at 6:10 PM, Jun 30, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-30 18:38:50-04

PETERSBURG, Va. – The forensic audit into the Petersburg treasurer’s office is now in the hands of a special prosecutor in the Chesterfield Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, along with the FBI and Virginia State Police.

"A forensic audit looks for fraud, it may find it, it may not,” said Tom Tyrrell, Interim City Manager. "We've turned over information from the forensic audit of the Treasurer's Office, that we think is appropriate to provide to law enforcement, they may proceed with something or they may not."

The audit is examining nine different areas of city government, though the part concerning the Treasurer's Office recently wrapped up. But not before Mayor Sam Parham stood in front of City Hall and called for the resignation of Petersburg Treasurer Kevin Brown.

Petersburg City Treasurer Kevin Brown

The Mayor called for Brown's resignation as allegations surfaced about Brown and money possibly missing from his office, but no specifics or details have been offered about the accusations.

Brown told CBS 6 Wednesday that he did not steal any money from his office and that he will remain City Treasurer until his term ends.

"Definitely I want to stay, I want to complete my term," Brown said.

"We're conducting a forensic audit over several areas of the city and those reports have not been completed,” Tyrell said. "Right now we're targeting the end of August, for a final report but keep in mind that as you start to uncover additional information, it might draw you into a longer analysis."

Tyrrell says in the end he believes the audit will do what it's intended to do:  “provide Petersburg with the answers to their questions about how did we get here."

Last August, CBS 6 reported that Petersburg's financial crisis involved more than $18 million of unpaid bills after historic over-spending that started in 2012.

Stay with CBS 6 for the latest on this developing story.

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