A man who held public health positions in Coconino and Navajo counties made a court appearance earlier this month stemming from the theft of more than $90,000 in public funds.
An investigation by the Arizona Auditor General found that Jeffrey Lee allegedly used his Coconino County purchasing card to make 237 personal purchases totaling $82,550 from July 2013 through April 2017. Lee, 46, is also alleged to have recorded several false transaction descriptions in the county’s accounting system in an attempt to conceal the expenditures.
Lee was indicted in Coconino County Superior Court in December 2020 on 16 felonies related to theft, misuse of public monies, and fraudulent schemes. He had a case management conference on April 5 and the parties are working on a non-trial resolution.
Public records show Lee was hired by the Coconino County Public Health Services District in 2012 as a Public Health Emergency Preparedness program manager. He then transferred to Navajo County as the Public Health Services health director in April 2017 and is alleged to have continued the same behavior, using a Navajo County purchasing card to make 135 purchases totaling $9,148.
The state auditor’s report noted that Coconino County officials did not require Lee to submit itemized receipts for his purchase transactions and even paid for those transactions without review or additional approval. A similar issue was discovered at Navajo County, where officials failed to timely review Lee’s card transactions or ensure that he reimbursed the County for any personal purchases.
Meanwhile, a former secretary for the Joseph City Unified School District in Navajo County is moving closer to a trial on felony charges of theft, misuse of public monies, and fraudulent schemes in connection to more than $40,000 missing from the district.
In November 2020, the Arizona Auditor General completed a financial investigation to determine the amount of public monies misused, if any, from the district during July 2011 to January 2018. Public records show the investigation suggested Tonnie Rae Pugh, who worked at high school, may have embezzled $40,436 by failing to deposit cash receipts and then falsified numerous district records.
Pugh, 56, was indicted by a state grand jury at the conclusion of the auditor’s investigation. She had a pretrial hearing last week in Navajo County Superior Court and could stand trial later this year if the case is not resolved by a plea deal.
The Joseph City Unified School District is one of 11 public schools in Navajo County and provides public education from preschool to grade 12 for about 412 students. In addition to Pugh’s duties as attendance secretary, she was also tasked with depositing funds from various student activities, club fundraisers, and athletic event ticket sales.