A former Horseshoe Bend city council member has been arrested after charges from the Attorney General’s office showed proof of theft of taxpayer funds.
According to the probable cause affidavit, in May 2022 the Public Integrity Unit of the Attorney General’s Office received information there had possibly been several felonious crimes committed by a city council member in Horseshoe Bend. The information was given to the Attorney General’s office from a citizen of Horseshoe Bend who allegedly saw several social media posts regarding expenditures made by an employee of the Horseshoe Bend Municipal Recreation Improvement District (MRID). The expenditures were made by Josh Jackson who, at the time, was the superintendent and office manager. Jackson reportedly oversaw the golf course, swimming pools, several lakes and other properties under the direction of the MRID.
The citizen attempted to file a police report against Jackson stating he was misusing the MRID credit card and possibly making personal purchases. Law enforcement advised the citizen to contact the Attorney General’s office since Jackson was member of the city council.
Investigators took the complaint and confirmed Jackson was a council member in Horseshoe Bend and also employed by the MRID. The MRID is funded by assessment fees residents of Horseshoe Bend are required to pay, and if the investigation showed Jackson did misuse the funds, it would be taxpayer money. MRID allowed Jackson to run his own business, Turkey Mountain Essentials, inside the golf course pro shop hich is operated by the MRID. Jackson was the sole owner and employee of Turkey Mountain Essentials in addition to being over several employees who worked for the MRID on the golf course and other areas.
As part of the investigation, subpoenaed bank and credit card records showed several cash advances made on the credit card in 2018, 2019 and 2020 in addition to numerous questionable small charges. Investigators stated charges were made on weekends and at location which were not consistent with being used for MRID business and Jackson was reportedly the only person who had access to the card.
Bank records indicated there were multiple checking accounts for MRID, with checks requiring two MRID board commissioner signatures. Investigators were able to determine 16 checks were written payable to Turkey Mountain Essentials. The check were written in various amounts, with at least one check written for $6,000 and another for $4,000. Both checks were made out to Jackson with a notation in the memo line as “payroll” or “pay advance.” Between 2018 and 2021 the total amount of checks written equalled of $30,112 and were signed by two of the three individuals who were board members at the time. Investigators also determined Jackson was paid biweekly from MRID by direct deposit and in his role with MRID he made approximately $55,000 annually.
Investigators questioned each of the three board members separately and they all stated they did not give Jackson permission to sign their names on checks payable to himself or give him authorization to take cash advances on the MRID credit card. During the interviews, investigators determined numerous other checks were made payable to individuals and businesses with forged signatures in addition to the checks Jackson wrote to himself. In total, 87 checks had been forged.
When investigators questioned Jackson, he confirmed he had worked for MRID since 2011. He stated he had no contract or lease with the MRID to run his business at the golf course, he was “just allowed to do it.” Jackson stated he was given the credit card to use for anything needed for the golf course or MRID and stated he was never given any restrictions or guidelines for use of the credit card. He admitted he did use the card on occasion for personal use. Jackson told authorities he used the credit card for cash advances at time to get change. He admitted he had a cash bag containing $500, but “just didn’t think” sometimes and did the cash advance instead. Jackson claimed when he used the card for personal reasons, he would pay the funds back through his business.
Jackson told investigators he was familiar with the golf course improvement checking account which was to be used for cart paths, golf course repairs or anything else related to the golf course. He acknowledged he was not on the signature card for the MRID checking accounts and he did write checks on the accounts at times. Jackson told authorities he was given permission by two of the commissioners to sign checks. He denied getting cash advances for personal use, but did admit to forging 16 checks to himself or his business.
The only justification Jackson could give authorities was MRID was supposed to give him a raise at one point but never did and his direct deposit for his paycheck didn’t go in on time during one pay period. As for the other checks that were written to vendors or for bills were because he could not get a board member to come by and sign the check themselves.
Jackson admitted he was a sitting Horseshoe Bend council member during the time he forged the checks. He also acknowledged the funds he was accessing to write checks to himself for the $30,112 were from MRID assessment fees paid by the citizens of Horseshoe Bend.
Jackson was booked into the Izard County Detention Center on felony charges of theft of property, 2nd degree forgery and fraudulent use of a credit card. He has been released on a $5,000 bond.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI