Trumbull County Auditor files brief justifying appeal in Bazetta Township missing funds case

Nearly one month after appealing Judge Sarah Kovoor's ruling in a case regarding missing taxpayer funds from Bazetta Township, Trumbull County Auditor Martha Yoder has now filed a brief explaining the reason for the appeal.

The appeal was filed after Judge Kovoor ruled in favor of the Bazetta Township Board of Trustees ordering the Trumbull County Auditor's Office to pay back $80,000 worth of lost taxpayer funds.

The funds were lost due to a phishing scam where Bazetta Township's fiscal officer's email was hacked and a scammer sent the Trumbull County Auditor's Office an email claiming that the township had switched to a new bank and demanded its taxpayer funds be transferred into the new bank account.

This resulted in the loss of $160,000 in taxpayer funds. According to court documents, $80,000 worth of those funds were recovered, but the other $80,000 is still missing.

The township is seeking a writ of mandamus to compel the payment, but Yoder argues that mandamus does not apply here because Yoder had already made the payment, albeit to the wrong bank.

The document goes on to say the fact that the fiscal officer's email was hacked and the money was sent to a fraudulent bank account does not change the fact that the Auditor's Office did its job.

However, Bazetta Township trustees have argued that the Auditor's Office should still be held responsible for the missing funds because it should have paid closer attention to red flags in the email such as misspellings.

Yoder argues this complaint should have been treated as a negligence claim.

"Properly analyzed as a negligence claim, this is a simple case. [Yoder] has been sued for negligently issuing a tax payment to the township, which is a statutorily mandated requirement by the office. Specifically, [the township] claims that [Yoder's] employee negligently fell victim to an internet scam, which was made possible only through [the township's] own negligence in failing to secure its own email system," the filing reads.

Yoder further argues that regardless of whether or not the negligence claims are true, the claim is barred by political subdivision immunity, which grants immunity from liability to political subdivisons.

As of now, Judge Kovoor has not made a ruling on the appeal.

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Trumbull County Auditor appeals judge's ruling in case of missing Bazetta Township funds