State employee facing embezzlement charges had financial woes

Saturday, June 18th 2005, 12:15 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A state Tourism Department employee facing embezzlement charges was issued a state purchasing card with a $75,000-a-month spending limit despite a checkered financial history that included a personal bankruptcy and tax problems.

Angela L. Hanson, 39, appeared in court Friday on charges of using a state-issued purchasing card to spend more than $20,000 for personal items. Those items included a cake and decorations for a co-worker's wedding and renting a Midwest City convention hall for the Carl Albert Junior High School cheerleading squad.

Hanson earned $11.30 an hour as an administrative assistant for the state Tourism Department when she was fired in March. She started with the department in December 2000.

Hanson was issued the state purchasing card in May 2002, just two years after filing bankruptcy.

No background checks are required before a state employee is issued a card. Col. John Richard, director of the state Department of Central Services, which oversees the state's 2,000 purchasing cards, said he would not have given a card to an employee with past credit problems.

But Robb Gray, director of the state Tourism Department, said he still doesn't know the personal financial details of the 232 employees in his agency who still have cards.

``In a situation where an employee has a bad credit history, it doesn't have to impair their ability to do their job, and in many cases, it doesn't,'' Gray said.

``It shouldn't be held against them,'' Gray said. ``We have employees who go through divorces, they've lost cars, they've lost families, yet they are here and do an incredible job for this department.''

An affidavit filed by Oklahoma County prosecutors quotes Hanson as admitting her guilt and promising to make restitution.

Hanson couldn't be reached for comment. Friday, she was in Oklahoma County District Court, where she pleaded not guilty to five counts of embezzlement. Her attorney, Lance Phillips, refused comment.

Richard and Gray agree more scrutiny is needed for the cards, which are issued through Chase Bank, have the MasterCard logo and are used like credit cards. They said the cards save agencies time and money.

To obtain such a card, state employees only need the trust of their superiors.

Hanson, well-liked by both co-workers and superiors, had that trust.

``She was our go-to employee,'' Gray said. ``She got things done ... She wove a tapestry of lies at this department that we are just now finding out about.''

Gray said Hanson took advantage of a change in the agency's administrative ranks and a 25 percent budget cut that left purchasing supervisors overworked. Procedures that forgive expenditures without receipts also are to blame, he said.

While tourism officials promise tighter control of card spending, Department of Central Services officials are reviewing card transactions at other agencies. Richard said expenditures on the 2,000 state purchasing cards haven't been audited in at least a year because the office is short-staffed.