Mobile mayor says finance department turnover was a concern before $14.7 million fraud (NBC 15 FILE)
MOBILE, Ala. (NBC 15) —Mobile’s finance department has had six directors since 2021, and nearly all employees in its accounting and accounts payable functions have turned over since 2023, according to city officials. The turnover is drawing new attention as the city investigates how afraudulent payment diverted $14.7 millionintended for the Regions Arena contractor.
“When I came in, the finance department, the level of turnover they had experienced was a grave concern to me. It’s why we went out and, you know, hired a new director,” said Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis.
The Mobile City Council approved Cheriogotis’ appointment of Logan Gewin, Jr. as Executive Director of Finance in April. Prior to Gewin’s appointment, the directors were Donna Bryars (interim), Scott Collins, Richard “Rick” Moore, Robert Holt, and Celia Sapp (interim). Gewin raised the turnover rate when council members questioned him about the fraud Tuesday.
“We’ve had about 100% turnover since 2023 in these accounting, AP (accounts payable) functions. There were definitely actions and inactions that happened here,” said Gewin. “There’s also organizational lessons behind all this that we want, I want to come out helping make the city better for it.”
The fraud began with communications in May seeking changes to the arena contractor’s vendor information. The changes ultimately redirected the contractor’s bank information. City staff requested the $14.7 million payment on October 2. Emails raised concerns five days later, but Cheriogotis and Gewin were not informed until October 16. Cheriogotis said the city is investigating multiple potential failures, and that turnover is one issue it needs to address.
“I could probably rattle off about 12 problems here. There are a lot of problems here. It’s not any one particular thing, but we do need to answer all of those problems,” said Cheriogotis.
One finance department employee has been fired, and two others have been placed on paid leave. Council members say they plan on creating an advisory committee of seven residents with relevant professional experience to review city financial policies.
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