Former Clarksville City Garage employee charged with stealing money from scrap metal sales

Updated, 6:50 p.m., with response from city officials.

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A former City Garage employee has been charged with theft after allegedly stealing money from scrap metal sales and annual taxicab inspections.

Loretta Beeler Smith, a former administrative support tech with the City Garage, was indicted during the April term of the Montgomery County Grand Jury on one count of theft over $1,000.

Smith was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Montgomery County Jail.

The Clarksville City Garage, or Fleet Maintenance Division, provides preventative maintenance and repair on approximately 2,000 pieces of city-owned equipment, ranging from trucks to lawn mowers and chain saws, according to a news release from the Comptroller’s Office.

Missing money

Smith joined the City Garage in 2007, where she worked in the parts room up until 2017, according to city spokesperson Linda Gerron. Following this position, she became the administrative support technician.

The investigation began after city officials reported missing cash deposits from scrap metal sales, and investigators determined that Smith stole $1,053 by failing to turn over proceeds from the sales to the city’s revenue department, the news release said.

Investigators also determined Smith misappropriated all scrap metal collections for 2020, and only handed over collections from three of the five vehicles sold for scrap in 2021, the news release said. Smith is also accused of falsifying documents to conceal her misappropriation.

“The City has policies to prevent this kind of criminal activity, including procedures,” Chief Financial Officer Laurie Matta said in a prepared statement. “Smith circumvented these procedures by taking advantage of her position and changing the processes we had in place. She took advantage of the trust and faith the City of Clarksville and our citizens had entrusted her with.”

Smith also allegedly admitted to stealing $600 in taxicab inspection fees.

The investigators found Smith did not turn over the $50 fees collected from taxicab operators during these inspections to the city’s revenue department on 12 occasions, the news release said.

Clarksville Now has reached out to Smith for comment.

New safeguards added

“City officials must ensure they provide adequate oversight over the city’s financial processes,” Comptroller Jason Mumpower said in the news release. “I’m pleased to note that Clarksville officials indicate they are separating financial duties and ensuring that cash receipts are reconciled with the deposits made to the city’s revenue department.”

Following this investigation, the Finance Department fine-tuned the City’s procedures for receiving cash deposits from scrap metal sales. Instead of collecting cash proceeds at the City Garage, the scrap disposal company will issue the City a check.

The city fired Smith on Jan. 7, 2022.

“The City of Clarksville is committed to the pursuit of justice, and therefore, we set high standards for our employees and will not tolerate those who fall short of those standards,” City Mayor Joe Pitts said.

“There is nothing that destroys the public’s trust and the security of public funds than an employee’s unlawful actions. The City of Clarksville is fortunate to have fantastic and capable Internal Audit and Finance Departments, who worked closely with the Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury to ensure that justice was served and see that Ms. Smith was held accountable for her actions.”