The special audit released Thursday reviewed transactions in Vanderhorst’s personal account and found numerous travel-related expenses outside Ohio.
Transactions from 2012-2022 indicated more than 30 trips, including multiple times to Florida and Tennessee. More than $5,000 of the stolen funds, too, went to a cruise company, according to the special audit.
The special audit identified stolen funds were used to pay:
- More than $750,000 to credit card companies,
-$150,000 for a mortgage loan,
-$6,500 to a contractor for a deck at Vanderhorst’s residence, and
-$12,600 to car dealerships.
A final finding for recovery of more than $1.8 million was issued on Thursday against Vanderhorst and is included in the final report of the special audit.
The special audit details the investigation into Vanderhorst’s crimes and his ultimate prosecution.
“It was a brazen crime against the people of Clark County, and he’s paying the price for his misdeeds,” said state auditor Keith Faber in a press release.
An employee of the Clark County Auditor’s Office since 1991, Vanderhorst was fired Jan. 12 after the Clark County Auditor’s Office said it learned of the allegations.
The thefts occurred from 2005 to 2021, according to the state auditor’s office.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Clark County Prosecutor Dan Driscoll launched an investigation after receiving a tip about a suspicious vendor account that received county payments but had no address, no tax identification number and no description of work being performed, according to a release from the state auditor’s office.
Driscoll confirmed an initial $110,000 payment to the suspicious vendor ultimately was deposited into a bank account maintained by Vanderhorst. With assistance from the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the investigation confirmed that Vanderhorst opened a “phony” vendor bank account, deposited county checks into it, and then transferred those balances into a personal bank account or withdrew cash for his own use, according to the state auditor’s office.
Vanderhorst escaped detection for years, the state report said, “due to a lack of management oversight and a failure by the county to segregate duties.”
The special audit included recommendations for improving and instituting internal controls to prevent a similar issue in the future.
Clark County Auditor John Federer said duties in the office are and were segregated with safeguards in place. But due to Vanderhorst’s position, as well as the tenure and the trust his co-workers had in him, he was able to circumvent the system.
Federer said Vanderhorst’s theft represents a “shocking betrayal of every Clark County citizen” and employees of his office.
No one in the auditor’s office has the ability to do that today due to changes made in January this year, Federer said.
Vanderhorst’s position was not filled by a new employee; rather, his duties were assigned to another. Federer said his office’s morale is high and employees are happy “justice was served.”
“From beginning to end, everyone did a great job to bring this to a close and work toward recovery,” Federer said.
According to the county auditor’s office, an employee noticed inappropriate vendor payouts in the financial management system in October 2021. State investigators visited the auditor’s office and Vanderhorst’s home in January to collect evidence. Vanderhorst was initially indicted in February 2022 and pleaded guilty in August to felony counts of aggravated theft and theft in office.
Clark County Common Pleas Judge Douglas M. Rastatter also ordered Vanderhorst to forfeit personal bank account balances, a 2019 Mazda, all monies in his deferred compensation accounts, and his $4,294 monthly Ohio Public Employees Retirement System distribution, according to the release.
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