Former director of Tunica County Airport arrested for embezzlement

The Director of the Tunica County Airport Eric Konupka has been arrested after being investigated by Special Agents from the Mississippi State Auditor's office.

State Auditor Shad White said Konupka was indicted Monday for embezzlement by a local grand jury. He was also issued a demand letter showing he owes over $9,000 to Tunica County taxpayers.

Konupka is accused of using the Tunica County Airport's debit card for his own personal expenses. He allegedly used the airport's card to withdraw cash from ATMs and purchase food, automotive supplies, energy drinks, and cigarettes. Konupka also purportedly used the card at casinos and restaurants near Tunica.

"Whether it's the largest public fraud in the state or an employee using a government purchasing card to buy a few thousand dollars' worth of items for themselves, we will hold the line on any misuse of taxpayer money," said State Auditor Shad White. "We must rely on prosecutors to make the decision about when to charge someone with a crime, so I'm grateful for the cooperation between investigators and prosecutors in this case."

Konupka was arrested by law enforcement officials in south Florida. He has been issued a $9,259.55 demand letter. The demand amount includes interest and investigative expenses. The Mississippi Attorney General's Office will prosecute him.

If convicted, Konupka faces up to 20 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Konupka's previous employment at the Tunica County Airport is covered by an insurance policy. This insurance policy is designed to protect taxpayers from corruption.

Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor's office online at any time by clicking the red button at www.osa.ms.gov or via telephone during normal business hours at 1-(800)-321-1275.

The Audit Department has investigated numerous complaints leading to charges in Tunica and Coahoma County, but has seen delays in prosecution from local District Attorney Brenda Mitchell.

Coahoma Community College charges

In a similar investigation two former Coahoma Community College employees were caught in one of the largest embezzlement schemes at that time after a year of investigation by the state auditor's office in September 2018.

That case is pending in Coahoma County Circuit Court and no repayment has been made at this time.

According to state auditor Shad White at a press conference in the Coahoma County Courthouse at the time the charges were announced, the investigation concluded Stacie Neal from the CCC accounts payable business office and administrative assistant Gwendolyn Jefferson embezzled an estimated $758,000 from 2013-17. The embezzled amount, plus the $194,000 interest and $28,000 cost for the investigation add up to the $981,600.64 Neal and Jefferson are being told to pay back.

At the time the investigation was announced, White said the auditor's office only deals with civil matters and district attorney Brenda Mitchell will make the decision on whether to file charges and prosecute.

"What that file is going to detail is that, from at least 2013 to 2017, these two individuals who were working in purchasing at the community college, were taking government procurement cards and they were going to Kroger," White said. "They were going to Walmart, here in Clarksdale. They were going on Amazon. Many times, they were swiping the cards. They were purchasing gift cards from the stores. They would take those gift cards and do whatever they wanted to with them."

White said multiple cards were being used and, as Neal and Jefferson kept everything a secret, the amount of money they were spending increased. He added they were going on to the Amazon website and purchasing items such as watches, shoes and a chandelier.

Mitchell said, if there is a prosecution, it would be in Coahoma County, but the timetable is a question mark.

A similar case that has not been disposed of by the District Attorney saw a former CPU employee indicted more than six years ago and no action taken

On Dec. 8, 2015, former CPU Office Manager MAPLE Melton was indicted on nine counts of embezzlement by the State Auditor.

A formal demand in the amount of $3,871.92 was issued on Dec. 14, 2015. On March 17, 2017, this case was transmitted to the Office of the Attorney General. For Fiscal Year 2021, no payments have been received. Melton is currently awaiting trial.

Kappi Allen, former executive director of the Coahoma County Tourism Commission, pleaded guilty to embezzlement at a hearing in Circuit Judge Al Smith's courtroom in Cleveland Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020.

The prosecution and Allen both agreed Allen embezzled more than $25,000, which means, according to Smith, the maximum sentence is 20 years in prison or a $25,000 fine.

However, the amount of money Allen embezzled while in her position with the tourism commission is still in question. She was charged with embezzling $93,345.34 – more than $56,000 in funds and more than $35,000 for other things such as taking her granddaughter to Disney World.

Allen has been paying restitution as part of her plea and probation agreement with the state.

Tunica Housing fraud charges

Authorities from the State Auditor's office arrested a Tunica man in February 2021 in what State Auditor Shad White said is the second largest demand letter for return of funds in the state's history.

White said in a press conference in Oxford in 2021 that Mardis Jones was arrested and has been indicted for fraud and embezzlement for allegedly pocketing state and federal funds to repair impoverished homes.

"A $1,081,143.07 demand letter was issued to Jones upon his arrest," said White. "This amount represents the second-largest demand in a criminal case in the history of the Auditor's office and includes both interest and investigative expenses."

White said their investigation uncovered $765,000 in funds allegedly embezzled and more than $750,000 in administration costs that has led to fraud charges.

Jones was Executive Director of Tunica County Housing Incorporated (TCHI), a private organization responsible for operating a program to rehabilitate dilapidated homes owned by low-income county residents.

Under the program, funds came through Tunica County Board of Supervisors and were paid to TCHI, who then paid contractors to repair houses.

The county called for Jones to take applications from local homeowners and connect them with contractors for home repairs. Jones then submitted funding requests to the Board of Supervisors to pay the contractors.

White said instead of making all the required payments to the contractors, Jones is accused of embezzling from the program.

Investigators determined less than 20-percent of the nearly $2 million transferred to TCHI was actually paid to contractors for rehabilitation work on homes. Jones allegedly embezzled over $750,000 from the program.

"Mr. Jones acted as president, secretary and treasurer of this organization," said White. "Yes, there should have been more oversight and monitoring of this program. The saddest part is people who qualified and others who might have badly needed home repairs never got them while Mr. Jones got rich at the expense of good government and all taxpayers."

The auditor's office began an investigation when a complaint was submitted by the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER). White said newspaper reports also caught the Audit Department's attention.

"While this case is a good example of state government officials working together to uncover fraud and hold the perpetrator accountable, I can't help but be discouraged when another program intended to help the poor is stolen from," White said. "Once again, an arm of government trusted a private organization to run a government program, and a large percentage of the program's spending was flat out stolen."

Jones surrendered to Special Agents at the Tunica County Jail on Wednesday afternoon. His bond was set at $50,000 by the court.

If convicted, Jones faces up to 40 years in prison and $45,000 in fines. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The case will be prosecuted by the office of Attorney General Lynn Fitch.

White said the Audit Department decided to ask the Attorney General to prosecute this case since they have had difficulty in getting local district attorney's to prosecute cases in this area.

"Anytime we have a case we initially start with the local district attorney, but we also use the Attorney General and federal prosecutors, too," said White. "We see where there are cases still pending that we have submitted to the local district attorney. These cases have been pending for a couple of years and rather than fill up her docket, it was taken to the Attorney General and she said she was glad to prosecute it."

CPU Embezzlement charges

A former Clarksdale Public Utilities employee charged in June with embezzlement following an investigation by the State Audit Department.

State Auditor Shad White said June 7 that special agents from his office arrested Shoral Bounds, the former lead cashier for the Clarksdale Public Utilities.

White said Bounds was indicted for embezzlement by a Coahoma County grand jury. A $182,771.97 demand letter was presented to her upon arrest. The demand letter includes interest and investigative expenses.

Bounds is accused of embezzling customer utility payments and manipulating the computer systems to show that her daily collections were less than she collected.

If convicted, Bounds faces 20 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The Office of the Attorney General will prosecute this case.

Shad White was appointed the 42nd State Auditor of Mississippi in July 2018 and then won election to the office after establishing a tough, no-nonsense reputation. In his time as State Auditor, White's team has stopped the largest public fraud in state history, made the largest civil recovery after an auditor's investigation in the history of the office, and concluded cases that, collectively, led to hundreds of years of prison sentences for fraudsters.

He holds a certificate in forensic accounting, is a Certified Fraud Examiner, and serves in the military as an officer in the Mississippi National Guard assigned to the 186th Air Wing in Meridian. The son of an oilfield pumper and public school teacher, White grew up in rural Jones County and went on to earn degrees from Ole Miss, the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and Harvard Law School.

Today he, his wife Rina, and their daughters live in Rankin County and attend St. Richard Church.