Refresh Evansville Plans to Replace 600 Miles of Water Lines

As the city of Evansville sees more and more water main breaks, it’s likely due to it’s aging infrastructure. A long term strategy to replace Evansville’s aging water mains kicked off with a series of public meetings. It’s a $10 million project…

Notre Dame Law Clinic Employee Accused Of Embezzlement

IL for www.theindianalawyer.com

An employee of the Notre Dame Clinical Law Center has been charged with 11 felony counts relating to what the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office say is a seven-year-long racketeering scheme in which the university found more than $199,000 was stolen.

Jennifer S. Ihns, 44, was charged Friday with level 5 felony corrupt business influence, nine counts of theft and a count of forgery as either Class D or Level 6 felonies. Prosecutors said Ihns “through a pattern of racketeering activity” enriched herself with more than 200 thefts and 95 forgeries of checks written to herself or to third parties that she cashed. Ihns was released from the St. Joseph County Jail after posting $10,000 bond and was scheduled to appear before a magistrate Tuesday afternoon.

Ihns was clinic administrator after beginning her career with the Clinical Law Center, formerly the Legal Aid Clinic, as a paralegal and office coordinator, investigators said in charging documents. The charges accuse Ihns, who had signatory authority over all clinic bank accounts, of writing nine checks she cashed in amounts from $725 to $1,500 between 2012 and June 2016. The checks were drawn on the Notre Dame Legal Aid Interest on Lawyers Trust Account fund and the Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic operating expenses account.

Investigator David Newton of the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office wrote in a supplemental affidavit in support of probable cause that Notre Dame conducted an inquiry into the handling of the law center’s funds, which was provided to one assistant dean and one associate dean responsible for the clinic’s oversight. “Both administrators reviewed those documents the same day and immediately identified wide-spread evidence of improper handling of Clinic funds,” the affidavit says.

Ihns initially denied any knowledge, but admitted “I did it” when confronted with specific details of improprieties and altered checks, according to the affidavit. Ihns allegedly said she had a financial need and all the money was gone, estimating she’d been embezzling for about two years and was responsible for $20,000 to $30,000.

The university then undertook a seven-year lookback that “revealed evidence that Ihns stole over $199,000,” the affidavit said, and the evidence was turned over to authorities. “The breadth of all her illicit activities may never be fully known — but there are over 255 separate checks on separate days representing separate thefts of University/Clinic/Client funds over a seven-and-one-half-year period,” the affidavit says.

The document says no evidence was found of specific losses to any client, but Ihns’ recordkeeping causes ambiguity. “In those cases, the University paid those Clinic clients whatever funds appeared appropriate to ensure that Ihns’ conduct harmed only the university.”

A spokeswoman for the law school did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Indiana Faces Records Request Backlog As Pence Drags Feet

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The Indiana governor’s office faces a backlog of public records requests largely stemming from Vice President Mike Pence’s tenure, and the delay has been exacerbated by Pence’s refusal to give his successor digital access to his emails, including those sent from a private AOL account he sometimes used to conduct state business.

More than 50 records requests are pending before the office of Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who was Pence’s hand-picked replacement on the ballot after Trump selected him to be the GOP vice presidential nominee last July.

The vast majority of the requests seek correspondence Pence had with staffers and political groups, including emails routed through his private AOL.com email account, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.

The pending requests are from private citizens, law firms, political parties and news organizations, including the AP.

Pence has touted himself as a champion of a free press and the First Amendment, though he repeatedly stonewalled public records requests as governor, often delaying their release — if not denying them outright.

Thirteen boxes of paper copies of Pence’s emails were delivered to the Indiana governor’s office in March, after his use of a private AOL email account was first revealed. But public records experts say the vice president’s reluctance since then to provide digital access to his correspondence appears to be a deliberate stalling tactic.

Indiana University journalism professor Gerry Lanosga, a former investigative reporter, said that state law requires Pence to provide digital records, like emails, in their original form.

“The fact that they were providing boxes of paper printouts of digital records is disappointing and clearly is meant to make it difficult to review and release the records,” Lanosga said.

Pence spokesman Marc Lotter declined to answer detailed questions from AP, and instead emailed a one sentence statement.

“Documents relating to Governor Pence’s official service to Indiana are being preserved by the state in full compliance with the law,” Lotter wrote.

Holcomb spokeswoman Stephanie Wilson said the governor’s office requested digital access to emails. But Pence has yet to follow through on a commitment to do so. Digital access would make the process of combing through the documents considerably easier for Holcomb’s four-person legal team, which is also tasked with handling the administration’s day-to-day legal needs.

Daniel Byron, a media law and First Amendment attorney, said the delay by Pence is hypocritical given he repeatedly attacked Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail for refusing to release emails from her time as secretary of state.

“He was after Hillary about emails and access,” said Byron, a partner with the Indianapolis-based firm Bingham, Greenebaum, Doll. “Do people let him get away with that?”

Earlier this year, lawyers for Pence argued unsuccessfully in a civil case that Indiana courts had no authority to force him to comply with public records law.

Pence’s AOL account was subjected to a phishing scheme last spring, before Trump chose him to join the GOP presidential ticket. Pence’s contacts were sent an email falsely claiming that the governor and his wife were stranded in the Philippines and needed money.

The governor moved to a different AOL account with additional security measures, but has since stopped using the new personal account since he was sworn-in as vice president, Lotter previously said.