FBI investigates after dismissal of finance director

The FBI is investigating the financial dealings of the former Vance County finance director. County Executive Renee Perry confirmed the investigation to WRAL.

A financial audit found that Bigelow had transferred more than $1 million in county funds to a company with which she was affiliated.

“The county also failed to comply with G.S. 159-28(b), which requires that all checks or drafts issued by the government must have at least two signatures, one by the treasurer or a duly designated assistant treasurer and the other by another local government official designated by the board to do so,” the audit said.

The report also addresses several other problems, including excessive spending, inadequate training and lack of oversight.

“This operation was able to go undetected for a period of time because county employees did not understand their assigned duties and there was no cross-functional training of the individuals who could have monitored the transactions,” the audit said.

The audit results were presented to the Board of Directors by Thompson Price Scott Adams and his company on June 3.

“We eventually started to investigate why we weren’t getting the numbers we wanted… and why the numbers weren’t on time… and how accurate the numbers were. We started to investigate why the numbers weren’t reconciled, why they weren’t on time… which led to our discovery,” the auditor said during the meeting. “Our people started to say, ‘The answers she’s giving us are not what someone in her position should be giving us.'”

In February, WRAL asked Perry if there were any discrepancies in the district’s budget related to Bigelow’s ouster. Perry said there were no discrepancies with the budget at the time.

During the June 3 meeting, the auditor said he had brought these concerns to the previous county manager. Perry and other commissioners pressed him during the meeting, saying he should have brought these concerns to her attention when she takes office in November 2023.

“We should have contacted Ms. Renee; I don’t dispute that,” the auditor said. “When she came on board in late November, we should have said we needed to have a conversation… Maybe I was just totally focused on getting data and not contacting management, whose responsibility I will be assuming.”

Another commissioner questioned the auditor about his responsibility to identify the financial problems earlier.

“You’ve been doing this since 2019 and now you’re discovering this for 2023. Do you hold yourselves responsible for what’s going on here?” they asked.

“We have looked internally. We believe we have done everything right. It is unfortunate, but the reality is that a financial audit is not traditionally designed to detect fraud,” the auditor said.

WRAL asked what changes the county is making to prevent similar incidents.

“To prevent this from happening in the future, we have put in place internal controls that allow for dual signature on electronic transactions. We are also working on revising our financial policies and procedures,” Perry responded by email.

The district has 60 days to submit a plan to correct the problems identified in the audit.

Bigelow had previously served as finance director since 2019. Perry also said Bigelow had died. The cause of death is unclear.