A former water department clerk for has been arrested in New York in connection with an investigation into missing funds.

Lisa Flaherty fled the village of Bellaire in April -- a day after state officials were made aware of missing funds -- and law enforcement officials have been searching for her since.

The Auditor of State's office was contacted on April 6 regarding information about suspected theft of utility payments. The next day, water utility information on the village's computer system disappeared and then-water clerk Flaherty failed to report to work.

Flaherty is facing three felony charges: tampering with evidence, theft in office and tampering with records. She is currently in jail in Broome County, N.Y., will be extradited back to Belmont County for prosecution.

The Auditor of State's office recently launched a special audit of the village's water department to determine the total amount money missing from Bellaire's coffers.

In a news release, Auditor of State Dave Yost said, "When missing taxpayer dollars are at stake, we'll go where we need to go to recover them. My office, law enforcement and the county prosecutor worked together to capture this fleeing suspect."

Soon after the investigation was made public, Bellaire Mayor Vincent DiFabrizio issued a gag order prohibiting village officials from publicly speaking about the subject.

But former mayor's adviser Dan Brown, who is not under the gag order, told NEWS9 he witnessed questionable events at his former job and said village officials have been suspicious of money disappearing for some time.


During his time as the mayor's adviser, Brown said people were suspicious "about different things that had happened in the village, about different possible thefts in the village, different situations that had come up. …Records were deleted. Machines over there were deleted and there are physical records missing as well."

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