78 Prosecutors Withheld Forfeited Funds, Says Law Firm Whistle-Blower Suit
An Indiana law firm has filed an unusual whistle-blower suit against 78 county prosecutors, contending that they have kept forfeited funds for their own county’s use rather than turning the money over to a state education fund as required by law.
At issue in the Marion Superior Court case is how an exception to the turnover rule–reimbursement for the county’s law enforcement costs–should be interpreted, reports the Indianapolis Star.
Wayne County, for example, meticulously calculates the cost for each case involving forfeited funds and turns the rest over to the state, according to the newspaper, while Marion County simply applies forfeiture money to its general law enforcement costs and thus never has any leftover money to send.
“School children are being deprived of money that the legislature intended to go to them,” says attorney Paul Ogden of Roberts & Bishop, which filed the suit. “It also creates a very bad incentive for law enforcement to be policing for profit as opposed to policing to stop criminal activity. … These are people who are supposed to be enforcing the law yet they’re taking property, taking money, keeping money that doesn’t belong to them.”
