This Embezzlement Takes The Cake!!

By Gary Snyder

A high-ranking Atlanta (GA) Metropolitan Area Regional Transportation Authority official who was responsible with helping overhaul the transit authority’s finances and business model has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of embezzlement. The victim: the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Institute for Internal Auditors, an association whose members guard their employers against fraud. 

MARTA was unaware of the indictment until The Atlanta Journal-Constitution alerted them. He verified that Howard still heads internal audits at MARTA. MARTA officials are investigating how its chief auditor was hired despite a history of financial red flags. He was under indictment in Virginia on charges of embezzlement and had a history of five-figure liens. The authority now plans to look at its own books to make sure that funds are in their proper place.

Howard had been the chief audit executive for Prince William County before beating out several highly qualified candidates to replace one of MARTA’s top officials.

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