DeKalb Government P-Cards Suspended by Interim CEO

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The Interim CEO of DeKalb County has indefinitely suspended most county employees’ purchasing cards after an investigation revealed a pattern of abuse and sent one former commissioner to federal prison.

WSB-TV reports that Lee May has suspended some 90 percent of the county’s 266 purchasing cards, including purchasing cards used by the county commission and his own office. May hired an independent investigation team in March to examine allegations of abuse of purchasing cards; the investigators did not give May any specifics but alerted him to areas of concern.

Former County Commissioner Elaine Boyer has been sentenced to 14 months in prison and has been ordered to pay $87,350 in restitution for her fraud against DeKalb taxpayers.

Prosecutors say that Boyer, the longtime District 1 commissioner, drew up $78,000 worth of invoices for an advisor she said helped her with government consulting and issues relating to District 1. The advisor never actually did any work, and funneled approximately $58,000 of his invoice income into bank accounts owned by Boyer and her husband, money they then used in their personal lives.

Boyer also used her purchasing card to buy some $15,000 worth of personal goods and services despite signing an agreement which barred the use of county purchasing cards for private purposes, prosecutors say.

Boyer resigned from office on Aug. 25, 2014 and pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in early September. John Boyer, Elaine’s husband, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud in March; John Boyer was the mastermind of the fraud.