VIDEO: Investigation Uncovers Alleged Embezzlement

ECRU, Miss. (WCBI) – Investigators from the state auditor’s office have been in Ecru, unraveling an alleged web of corruption that had been going on for nearly four years.

The charges come as a shock to residents in this small town in Pontotoc County.

Even more shocking was where most of the money was allegedly spent.

“It started off as a simple payroll case. We thought money was missing and overpaid there and we started getting into it and found out it was a much bigger, much more elaborate fraud that was taking place,” said Mississippi State Auditor, Stacey Pickering.

Over the course of four years, Ecru city clerk, Gretchin Moody, allegedly embezzled over $400,000 from city funds to buy one thing, firearms, over 77 of them in total.

They were given as gifts to former Ecru Police Chief, Paul Martin Blaylock.

It seemed simple when it first caught the State Auditor’s attention.

“We received a complaint that basically said there was some discrepancies in payroll, and we started going and looking into payroll home and realizing that with Ms. Moody being in charge of payroll that she was actually writing herself some extra checks,” said special agent for the auditor’s office, Josh Campbell.

“As with most cases, you know, this starts off typically as a small, little by little, and once those individuals get into a pattern of behavior they think they can get away with it. But the one thing when it comes to public corruption of any scale, of any size, is there’s always a paper trail,” said Pickering.

That trail led investigators to Moody’s Office, and what they found was incriminating.

“It was very unorganized, so we started looking at document. We discovered some credit cards and started looking at those and noticed some of these firearms were purchased on those credit cards,” said Campbell.

After presenting evidence before a grand jury, both Moody and Blaylock were indicted.

They surrendered themselves this morning, leaving their small town in shock.

“From what I’ve gathered, everybody trusted Ms. Moody, and that’s one reason why she was able to get away with this for so long,” said Campbell.

“To have a case of this magnitude, that is this gratuitous, betraying a small town of your family, your friends, and your neighbors, is betrayal not just of the taxpayers but of personal relationships,” said Pickering.

With Moody and Blaylock arrested on embezzlement charges, the next step is to get back the money.

“We’ll work with the local government to make sure they have our backing and our support of our attorneys, our CPA’s and, our legal staff to make that happen as fast as we can,” said Pickering.