ST. PAUL - Information about the state's former transportation emergency management director is being given to the attorney general and Ramsey County attorney for possible criminal charges.
The legislative auditor today said Sonia Morphew Pitt of Red Wing, a state employee since 1992, misused $26,000 in taxpayer funds in the past two years.
Minnesota Department of Transportation officials earlier fired Pitt for the alleged misuse of money and for failing to return to Minnesota for 10 days after the Aug. 1 Minneapolis bridge collapse.
Legislative Auditor James Nobles reported today his office found that Pitt caused the state to incur more than $11,500 of "unauthorized, unreasonable, or inappropriate expenses" and charged the state for $14,682 for work time that should have been recorded as personal leave.
"It was egregious," Nobles said of Pitt's actions. "It was a pattern of misconduct. It was not just an isolated event. It was purposeful, continuous, claims for inappropriate benefit."
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Nobles' office reported that state law gives the attorney general responsibility of recovering inappropriately used state funds. The Ramsey County attorney is being asked to determine whether criminal charges against Pitt are warranted.
Besides Pitt, the audit holds the department - under the direction of Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau - partially responsible for the problems. "The Minnesota Department of Transportation did not adequately supervise Ms. Pitt and did not have adequate internal controls over her state-paid expenses," according to the audit's findings.
"The Department of Transportation should establish methods of employee supervision and a system of internal controls that ensure public resources are protected from misuse," the report said.
Molnau said Pitt's "intent was to abuse the system for personal use."
"Ms. Pitt clearly violated the trust we place in MnDOT employees," Molnau wrote in response to the audit. "We are disappointed in this unfortunate set of circumstances, but we feel that these misuses are not widespread in the department."
Molnau said MnDOT will "put into place immediately revisions to our system" to avoid similar abuses.
Pitt declined an offer to meet with the legislative auditor's office to discuss its findings. She has declined repeated requests to be interviewed. A voice message left Wednesday at her Red Wing home was not immediately returned.
The costs Pitt incurred were primarily funded by federal grants, but were not allowable under the grant agreements, the audit said.
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Pitt was fired earlier this month after a separate Minnesota Department of Transportation investigation determined she had abused work-related travel privileges, used tax dollars to pay for personal calls on a state-issued mobile phone and did not return to Minnesota from an East Coast trip immediately after the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.
The legislative auditor's investigation looked at Pitt's travel and other state-paid expenses from July 1, 2005, to Sept. 11, 2007.
Nobles and his staff were to meet with a legislative committee this afternoon.
Pitt took the job leading an office with five employees and a $5.4 million budget in 2005.
