BRIEF: Rush Springs city clerk faces embezzlement charge

March 01--RUSH SPRINGS -- Grady County prosecutors have charged City Clerk John Morrow with one count of embezzlement, accusing him of improperly giving himself pay increases and advances totaling more than $12,000.

Morrow, 47, was arrested and booked into the Grady County jail on Thursday. He was released on $12,000 bail.

According to an affidavit, Morrow, who has been the Rush Springs city clerk since 2005, told investigators he had been taking city funds that weren't due him. An audit produced evidence that Morrow began embezzling city funds as early as 2007.

In 2007, Morrow didn't withhold premiums for insurance coverage from his own paycheck, resulting in a $319.97 loss to the city, according to the affidavit.

The next year, Morrow paid himself for an extra elected position, according to the affidavit. Over the next several years, he gave himself improper pay advances and extra duty paychecks, all while not withholding funds from his pay for insurance coverage, the affidavit shows. In all, Morrow embezzled $12,461, according to the affidavit.

A phone number registered to Morrow's home in Rush Springs had been disconnected.

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