Audits to Cost $70K After Alleged $850K Embezzlement

The South Whitehall Commissioners recently approved the transfer of $70,000 to cover the cost of audits initiated to strengthen the township's oversight of finances after the alleged embezzlement of $850,000 was discovered earlier this year.

In an Aug. 1 memo sent to the board, Finance Manager Lenore Horos requested the money to cover the costs of the 2011 and 2012 township audits and additional bookkeeping services.

The money will be used to cover the costs of the 2012 audits of the four township fire companies, Cetronia, Greenawalds, Woodlawn and Tri-Cover, and the township treasurer, the memo said. 

The board agreed at its July 17 meeting to hire accounting firm Buckno Lisicky and Company to audit Tax Collector A.C. Thompson Insurance.

The audits were some of the recommendations made by Buckno Lisicky, which was hired to evaluate the township's internal controls following the alleged embezzlement.

Nancy Tonkin, the former utility supervisor, and her husband, William Tonkin, a former township police officer, were charged in May with embezzling $850,000 from the utility funds over 13 years. The Tonkins are scheduled to be formally arraigned Friday in Lehigh County Court.