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missing money

Mystery of missing money lingers

BY KARA RHODES
The state Attorney General's Office charged a clerk with stealing nearly $1,500 from the office of Erie 4th Ward District Judge Tom Robie in the fall of 2006.

But state investigators have no idea what happened to the rest of the money that disappeared from Robie's office -- another $5,979 in missing cash, checks and a money order.

Poor accounting practices at Robie's office prevented the Attorney General's Office from charging anyone other than the now-former clerk, Kelly J. Kudlak, 32, who was accused Thursday of taking $1,498 from the office and then lying about it to a statewide grand jury.

"We had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was the only one that could have taken the money," said Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office. "We were only able to prove the amount of money that we charged."

He said he does not anticipate charges against anyone else in the case.

Harley said it was impossible to follow the trail of the rest of the money and the missing checks because of the accounting procedures at Robie's office at the time of the theft.

"They've been improved since, but at the time, they were lax," he said.

Robie's office did not have written records identifying who deposited revenue at PNC Bank on the 10 dates money was missing between Sept. 8, 2006, and Oct. 20, 2006, investigators said. Robie and his office workers also were not initialing deposit slips or maintaining written records of deposits.

The Attorney General's Office is alleging a total of $7,478 -- including the money Kudlak is accused of stealing -- had not been properly deposited after Robie's office is believed to have collected it. Clients submitted the money to Robie's office to pay costs, fines and other court-mandated expenses associated with criminal and civil cases adjudicated at Robie's office, 556 W. Fourth St., which covers the lower west side.

The amount of money still missing -- $5,979 -- is made up of $2,100 in cash and $3,879 in checks and a money order. Harley said the checks were never cashed.

Kudlak's defense
Kudlak's lawyer, Vince Nudi, said Thursday he has asked the Attorney General's Office about the whereabouts of the funds that remain unaccounted for. He said he hasn't received a satisfactory answer.

"They won't say anything," he said.

Nudi described the criminal complaint filed against Kudlak as "weak."

"But I don't want to say anything beyond that now," he said. "There's a whole lot of factors that haven't come out."

Nudi said Kudlak is not guilty.

"She's very upset and she still maintains her innocence, just as she's done all along," he said.

Kudlak, 32, of the 2300 block of Cherry Street, testified before the grand jury that recommended the Attorney General's Office charge her with perjury, theft and other counts.

The grand jury accused her of taking money on the three dates that investigators believe she was the only person available at Robie's office to take the deposits to the bank. She is accused of taking cash that was supposed to have been deposited in the amounts of $423, $280, $560 and $235.

Robie said Thursday he feels as if the charges against Kudlak bring closure to the investigation, which has been going on since the money in his office was reported missing in November 2006.

"Our office reported money missing 17 months ago," said Robie, 59, a former Erie police detective first elected to a six-year term as district judge in 2003. "That's a long time to have a matter like this remaining unresolved. It's sad and unfortunate, but I'm hoping this will allow us to have some closure in this matter."

Robie said he did not want to discuss the charges further because he believes he might be called to testify in the case.

"I can't get into the particulars," he said. "I would just say that these charges show that they believe there was some sort of pattern."

The grand jury probe
Robie has three staff members at his office. He hired Kudlak as a full time clerk Oct. 31, 2005. She was paid $18,819 a year.

The official investigation into the missing money was launched Nov. 3, 2006, after another clerk in Robie's office, DeMitta Moore, helped report the missing money to Erie County Controller Sue Weber, whose office audits the finances of the county's 15 district justices, and the county court administration.

Weber notified District Attorney Brad Foulk, whose office investigated the missing money and turned over his findings in January 2007 to the Attorney General's Office. Foulk cited his close ties to Robie, Robie's family and Robie's judicial office in referring the case to Attorney General Tom Corbett.

Erie County government later wrote a check to Robie's office to cover the $7,477.65 shortfall. Weber then took steps to recover that money by asking the affected clients at Robie's office to send the county courthouse replacement checks to cover the amounts they thought they had already paid by check. About half the clients cooperated, Weber said.

Kudlak was suspended without pay from Robie's office on Nov. 17, 2006, after she was cited for driving with a suspended license. But Kudlak was able to show paperwork showing her driving privileges had been restored, and was reinstated to her position in December.

Kudlak worked in Robie's office until May, when she underwent back surgery, Robie said. She never returned to the position.

Kudlak was called to testify before the grand jury on Sept. 27, according to the grand jury's statement of fact, which is part of the criminal complaint against her.

The grand jury said Kudlak testified she had not taken any money from the office. The grand jury also testified that Constable Greg Kindle had taken the $235 cash payment as part of restitution for a civil judgment restitution and that Kindle, Robie and Moore, the other clerk, were at the office when she wrote the receipt.

Kudlak told the grand jury that she put the money and the receipt in her desk drawer and that they later disappeared, the grand jury said.

Moore and Robie both testified they were out of the office that day, the grand jury said.

The panel said Kindle testified that the person who paid the $235 was able to provide him with a copy of the receipt that the customer said Kudlak provided him.

Kudlak "falsely testified," the criminal complaint alleges, leading to the charges of perjury and false swearing.