Adam h. Edelen, auditor of public accounts for the commonwealth of Kentucky released the findings of his examination into questionable activity by the former mayor and comptroller of the city of Prestonsburg.

The findings were released on Wednesday December 16, 2015 in a 32 page document

According to auditor Edelen, the former administration was “cutting sweetheart deals for itself, wasting taxpayer dollars, and generally running the city for the benefit of a few.”

The examination by the auditors found that the former Prestonsburg mayor financially profited $97,000 by participating in  a real estate deal in which he had a conflict of interests both personally and in his official capacity as mayor.

The auditors also uncovered questionable spending by the former mayor and comptroller.

According to the report the former mayor contributed at least $7,800 in city resources to a private professional arena football team-of which the mayor was also a member.  Questions over this, and other spending, led to the loss of grant funds to the Prestonsburg senior citizens center.

Auditors further discovered the former comptroller received $15,250 in payroll advances but $1,925 was still owed the city as was a total of $1,134 in cell phone services related to the use of cell phones by the comptroller’s spouse and child.

Further examination showed that there was inadequate supporting documentation for $8,300 paid to the comptroller’s spouse and his media consulting company.

Auditor’s also found that the comptroller was running a tax preparation business out of city hall, on city time, with software purchased with $7,504 in city funds and was charging fees for the tax preparation services.

The findings are now being referred to the Kentucky State Police and office of attorney general for criminal investigation and to the local ethics board.

The city has released a statement that’s states that the current administration is working with investigators, but cannot comment personnel policy or specific issues from the audit since it is an ongoing investigation. They assure the public that they will do everything they can to reach a resolution for the citizens of Prestonsburg.

The entire report is available at auditor’s website.