Private Investigator Finds No Record-Tampering in Leetsdale

A private investigator hired by Leetsdale's solicitor has found no evidence that someone in the borough's administration tampered with an auditor's report about borough finances.

Solicitor Richard Start said at Thursday night's council meeting that he had hired Corporate Security and Investigations Inc. last month to probe allegations of tampering with the audit report.

Start said investigator Louis Gentile, a former state trooper, determined that no one in Leetsdale Council or borough administration tampered with the original report compiled by Ambridge-based auditor Mark Turnley.

The investigator, however, determined that Judy McGurk, a member of the concerned citizens group who raised initial concerns, altered some of the report's font and punctuation when she scanned the document for others on her home computer.

Councilman Michael Bajsec said he took exception to the investigation. In August, he requested the independent audit after the concerned citizens group made accusations of improper financial and ethical dealings in the borough. Bajsec was the only person to receive the original audit report.

“The elected official is me. I’m the one who received a copy from Mr. Turnley … clearly I’m being accused of a felony,” Bajsec said, labeling the allegations toward him slander.

Start said McGurk sent Turnley an e-mail in February that raised questions about the report Turnley originally sent in a PDF format to Bajsec on Jan. 21.

When Turnley reviewed the document and realized McGurk’s version differed from his original report, Turnley contacted Start on Feb. 4 to raise concerns that the report might have been altered.

“That in my estimation constitutes a felony under the court of law,” Start said.

Start notified council of his intent to hire the private investigator to look into the matter.

According to the investigator’s report, another member of the citizens group informed McGurk that changes had been made in fonts and punctuations and questioned if other changes had been made to the content, the report states.

The investigator looked at McGurk’s scanner and computer and asked her to print out the document she sent to the concerned citizens group. The document printed out as an altered document and not as Turnley’s original, the report states.

Bajsec told council he was upset by the implication that he'd committed a crime and asked Start if he had legal recourse.

“I’m sorry for my outrage. I’m really angry about this,” said Bajsec.

Start told Bajsec he was unable to advise him as an individual, and Bajsec said he planned to seek outside legal counsel.

McGurk is out of town and was unavailable for comment Thursday night.

Melanie Dunn, a member of the concerned citizens group and a former councilwoman, said McGurk contacted the auditor for clarification purposes.

“It was blown out of proportion,” Dunn said.

Other business

In the independent audit, Turnley pointed out deficiencies in some borough financial practices. In response, council:

• Voted to eliminate all responsibility for cellular phone bills being directly billed to the borough by May 16.

• Eliminated the use of air cards by personnel other than police and reduced the number of air cards from seven to five.

• Approved the cancellation of all existing borough credit cards and replacing them with two general borough cards. Officials now will be required to sign out a card for use, return the card with a receipt and fill out a report upon returning the card.