Local Government TV

Monday, June 06, 2022

Kachmar: Bethlehem Needs a Forensic Audit

John Kachmar devoted most of his career to local government. He was the Republican nominee for Bethlehem Mayor. Voters preferred Willie Reynolds. But in the wake of recent criminal charges filed against Bethlehem's Budget Director, Kachmar's message of fiscal accountability has proven to be correct. In a message he posted on this blog, he is calling for a forensic audit. Here's what he says:

The Sivak story has many missing pieces. Not missing by you , Bernie, missing by the City of Bethlehem's actions. Sivak was the Finance Director for the City, the highest paid non- political fiscal officer. The discovery of his wrong doing was made by the Controllers office in January. An investigation took several months to uncover relatively "low hanging fruit " theft involving PayPal and and the sale of electronics ( cell phones, primarily) to the tune of 12,000 plus dollars. Sivak had access to all city accounts and fiscal transactions. He reported to the the Business Administrator ( a political appointee with no previous fiscal management experience, who has questionable ethical issues involving the hiring of his wife). The Business Administrator reports to a new mayor who has no management experience nor fiscal management experience. Suspicion focuses on Sivak who remains employed during the "investigative period". The Controller ( an elected official) conducts the investigation without outside neutral help and the City Police Department ( which I hold in high regard) is asked to investigate a "white collar" crime ( a skill set not normally performed). Publicaly everyone is patting themselves on their backs stating " we caught the misdeeds and wrongdoer". Did they ? Or is there more wrongdoing and possible theft ? There are many ways you can resolve corruption in municipal government . Let me outline one that is normally used by other local governments that have had similar problems involving theft. You need to keep in mind that "caught wrongdoers" will always "cop" to a lesser crime. That is called self preservation. Sometimes , those who supervise them are complicit and welcome their silence. Sivak's misdeeds (at least for this alleged theft) occurred during a multi- year period (under The Business Administrator's supervision ). How did his misdeeds go unnoticed ? Sivak had a dual role, he was also Budget Director. He was constructing city budgets while purportedly stealing at the same time. He was signing off on expenditure of city, state, and federal revenue sources. Did he "tamper " with other funding that exposed the city to "unallowable" costs ? Was he "directed" to do so. Is there documentation to his actions during and before this alleged crime took place? 

Here in this democracy called the United States we have different branches of government that are supposed to function as "checks and balances". The Bethlehem City Council needs to be seen by the public as "involved and accountable" . They can do this by demanding a Forensic Audit be performed by a forensic auditor whose selection they oversee. No cover-ups, no one forgiven for lack of oversight ...... An honest accounting of the city's financing and a renewal of that concept called Public Trust. Transparency and public release of findings would be a welcomed outcome for a City that has too often operated in the Shadows.

25 comments:

  1. All this does not count because Biden and the federal government is destroying America. You know this is true, but you pushed for Biden over Trump, and this is killing the American people. People like you are a major part of our Problem we have in our country.

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  2. If I were eligible, I would have voted for Mr. Kachmar. He seems to fully understand how easy it is to “play loose” with taxpayer monies, how easy it is to hide away misbehavior inside a bureaucracy. Come to think of it, Mr. Kachmar could have done wonders keeping our Members if Congress in Washington in line. What we have going on with elected officials right now is an absolute disgrace.

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  3. Mr. Kachmar brings up some important points in his comments, which were given much thought. I can never understand how embezzlement happens when there are (or should be) multiple people watching for irregularities. To me, to have a scheme such as this, go unnoticed makes me wonder who else is not doing his/her job. The Office of the Mayor released a scathing statement that, to me, made me think it was more a diversion — look over there, not here — than anything else. City Hall appears to be a mess, but I doubt anyone else will take the fall.

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  4. Bernie,

    Every government entity in the state should by law be required to annually conduct a forensic audit.

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  5. I live in a surrounding township of Bethlehem and suspect same kind of criminal activity by a few (not one) and wondering how to approach authorities?

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  6. Well, Bethlehem when will you move beyond the incestuous pool of sycophants that characterize your leaders and the ones pulling their strings? Let's see if anyone really pushes for an audit.

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  7. The dollar amounts revealed to date indicate such small potatoes that there must be more to this story. But Bethlehem is a one-party town and is trying to make this go away quietly. I think we've finished hearing about this story.

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  8. Bethlehem does have a problem, but I would also bring Whitehall township. They lost tax money but you never hear anything about the loss There was nepotism involved between the mayor and tax office, but the mayor also has other issues. One commissioner ran on the issue of the tax problem but once he won he shut up and that is typical of politicians.

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  9. This just shows Kachmar's naivety with Bethlehem's internal structure of government. Sivak may be the Finance and Budget director, but those are not dual roles. And that role never touches "real" money, ever. Sivak did not have access to any other accounts and lacked signing authority on any city accounts. He did not approve expenditures.

    The Financial Services department actually handles the day in and day out finances of the City. That department collects and deposits all tax dollars into the City, and approves all expenditures of tax dollars. And it is headed by the Director of Financial Services, who is actually the highest-paid non-political appointee, not Sivak.

    All the real money is handled on the first floor, not the second floor. The City's internal controls and with expenditures being tracked by the Controller's office severely limit the ability of anyone to actually steal real money. Sivak stole property and sold it. He did not steal any tax money from the City. In fact, he returned money that was not proceeds from the sale of stolen property to the paypal account, which ended up getting him caught.

    And the City has an outside auditor audit the City's finances annually. They should have been in there this past February and March. https://www.bethlehem-pa.gov/Meet-Your-Government/Budgets-and-Audits

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    1. He purchased new cell phones and sold them, he purchased electronics for personal use. I do believe these purchases were made with taxpayers money

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  10. He's absolutely right! Where there's smoke, there's fire- more to this story than just cellphones. It's a 1 party town- the fact that Reynolds was voted in over Kachmar speaks volumes!

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  11. This makes one not only suspicious but outraged as well. No wonder Mr. Kachmar didn’t win the election for mayor. I agree with the comments that reference this as low hanging fruit. The corruption in the beautiful city of Bethlehem apparently may be deeper and more widespread than just this discovery. I recommend you keep digging, Bernie. I believe others will be discovered or will blow the whistle to save themselves if you do.

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  12. Well Bethlehem majority voters, you made your bed, now lie in it.

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  13. "to have a scheme such as this, go unnoticed"

    well, it actually WAS noticed. by the controller. the guy is being charged. it doesn't appear that it went on for years and years, as in some smaller townships/organizations. the system worked.

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  14. I agree that$12,000. seems like a small amount to risk what had been a good career. Unless- you have other safeguards in place, or co-conspirators who don’t bother to look into the small stuff. As usual, follow the money. I can’t wait to see what we find out about the NIZ, now that Browne won’t be there to keep the financial info locked up.

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  15. 8:38, It's pretty clear to Sivak was caught by his own ineptitude with the Paypal account. I also agree that the Controller did his job and am reassured by your assertion that the City's Budget Manager and Financial Director had no authority over expenditures, as incongruous as that sounds. The fact remains that he did have control over the city's paypal account, and was able to engage in what appears to be a fraudulent scheme from there. In my mind, there are some concerns about internal controls with respect to paypal usage. I have spoken to a forensic examiner who told me point blank that no municipality should be using paypal bc it is hard to track fraud. I also do question what role Sivak's immediate supervisor, Eric Evans, had. These questions and concerns can be addressed by a forensic audit. I believe he is blameless and am sure his trust in Sivak was warranted over the years. But I'd like to see this professionally examined and would want to see if there are measures to ensure this is less likely.

    I believe it is impossible to prevent people from stealing. But we should do everything we can to make it hard. That's why a forensic audit is a good idea. I am somewhat amazed that you would attack Kachmar when it is one of your own who was caught stealing.

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  16. "well, it actually WAS noticed. by the controller. the guy is being charged. it doesn't appear that it went on for years and years, as in some smaller townships/organizations. the system worked."

    I credit the Controller and Bethlehem police. I believe a forensic audit should rule out the possibility that the scheme is larger, and it might posit some improvements.

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  17. 12:05 so true you are

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  18. Perhaps Mr. Kachmar can volunteer to conduct the forensic audit. T

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  19. It's Biden's fault. According to the first comment.

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  20. Bernie there needs to be national forensic audits everywhere!

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  21. Kachmar for Mayor 2024!

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  22. Why did they not contact the auditor general office or state attorney general? The IRS might be interested in taxes paid I gus alleged profits? State police?

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  23. Didn’t one of the guys in finance hire their wife or five them a significant raise? Didn’t you report on this in the past?

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