The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Source:
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:48 PM
Former Rogersville Water Department Superintendent Indicted For Stealing Close To $300K From Employers
According to the Tennessee Comptroller's Office, investigators with the office, the Rogersville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation found that Shawn Hatchett failed to deposit $69,444 in cash by withholding money from 16 different water department deposits he was in charge of delivering to the bank. Officials said he completed the scheme by diverting a day's collections for personal use and concealing the misappropriation by depositing in its place a subsequent day's collection.
Investigators also found that Hatchett stole an extra $500 by making out an unauthorized check to a department employee and requesting that the employee cash the check and bring the cash back to him, which he then allegedly kept for personal use.
During the investigation, officials said they also found that beginning in 2015, Hatchett gave himself thousands of hours of compensatory time, even though he was ineligible to receive comp time. In January 2017, Hatchett allegedly ordered the water department payroll clerk to add 3,000 hours of comp time to his leave balance.
The Comptroller's office also said Hatchett failed to notify water department board members that he had been working as a private contractor with Hawkins County Schools, which could have been a conflict of interest.
Hatchett was suspended with pay on July 18, 2017, and he was terminated on August 14, 2017. In April 2018, he was indicted by the Hawkins County grand Jury on one count of theft of property over $250,000, one count of theft of property over $60,000, and one count of official misconduct.
