NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) -- In the latest annual audit of the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, over $8,000 was reported missing and unaccounted for.

The audit report released today for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023, done by the CPA firm of Kolder, Slaven and Co., had four findings.

The independent auditor found the office had discrepancies totaling $8,413 which were recorded as deposits of cash bonds compared to the actual amounts deposited in the bank over an unknown period of time. Sheriff Tommy Romero conducted an internal investigation, but a specific employee at fault could not be determined, auditors said.

The auditor also found that the sheriff failed to notify the district attorney or the Legislative Auditor's office of the missing money as required by law.

The auditor found, too, that the sheriff had uninsured bank balances totaling $585,099. State law requires that bank balances be secured by federal deposit insurance or collateralized by the financial institution. Deposits in the amount of $12,074,096 were exposed to custodial credit risk, auditors said.

"Custodial credit risk is the risk that, in the event of a bank failure, the Sheriff's deposits might
not be recovered," the audit reads. "The Sheriff does not have a policy for custodial credit risk; however, under state law, these deposits, (or the resulting bank balances) must be secured by federal deposit insurance or the pledge of securities owned by the fiscal agent bank."

The auditor also found the sheriff’s office lacked adequate segregation of duties over accounting functions.

Read the full audit here:

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