Dierks Audit Update

An update on the audit investigation concerning the city of Dierks. If you missed it, former Dierks city employee, Cheryl Delarosa, has been charged with 12 felony counts following an investigation by the Arkansas State Police. Delarosa turned herself into authorities in early August after State auditors determined that the city failed to submit information for an audit of the water & sewer system for the calendar years 2015-2019 which, upon further review, led investigators to uncover missing funds in the amount of $501,193.

In a hearing on Friday Senator Trent Garner, El Dorado, asked how more than half a million dollars could go missing in a period of five years without anybody noticing to which Dierks Mayor Ronnie Cogburn responded, Delarosa didn’t have any oversight when it came to deposits and bookkeeping. Nobody was tracking to see if it got there.” “It”, being the cities money. Cogburn also said the issue came to light when bills started coming in and the money wasn’t available to pay them as expected. He also tried to get water meters for the city which required the audit. The city had previously been in contact with a certified public accounting firm to do the audits for fiscal years 2015-2018 however, according to Cogburn, Delarosa never would get him all the stuff that was needed and the accountant gave up trying.

Since Delarosa’s departure from the office Cogburn says procedures have been put in place to better track the coming and going of city funds. The investigation at this time is still ongoing and Delarosa is set to appear in court at the end of this month on the 29th.