Former Blue Mound secretary indicted for allegedly stealing city funds
BLUE MOUND, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — A grand jury has indicted the former city secretary in Blue Mound on theft charges after the city's mayor says the secretary gave herself a large raise.
Cynthia Daniels was booked into jail last month, and faces three counts of theft. The indictment does not indicate how much Daniels allegedly took, but the charges on two counts put it between $2,500 and $30,000.
The investigation into Daniels started last year according to city Mayor Darlene Copeland, who said while fulfilling an open records request for employee salaries, staff discovered Daniels was being paid at a rate of $70,000 a year. Her approved salary, Copeland said, was $45,000.
The indictment says the theft started in October 2021, more than four months before the city discovered it. Copeland said she believes the increase was hidden in the budget, under administrative costs to run the city.
Copeland said she put Daniels on administrative leave after the discovery, and fired a finance employee and outside consultant. Daniels resigned, Copeland said, before the city council could hold a special meeting to consider terminating her.
Copeland said she turned over documentation to the Department of Public Safety Texas Rangers, who in turn gave it to the Tarrant County District Attorney's office, which took it to a grand jury in November.
Even a few thousand dollars can have a big impact on the budget in Blue Mound, a small, landlocked city, tucked in between Fort Worth and Saginaw. The police chief resigned last year, in part due to a lack of funding for officers. The city outsourced dispatching to save money, and closed its library, replacing it with a food pantry.
An attorney representing Daniels had no comment on the charges.
After leaving Blue Mound she was hired for the same job in Pelican Bay. The city council there discussed the position at a meeting Tuesday, and documents show an "acting" secretary is now handling some city duties.