As documented by the Grand Jury in their annual report, as well as in an independent audit of City financial records, former
City Administrator Michael McHatten may have misappropriated public funds. As outlined and detailed in the City’s official response to the Grand Jury inquiry, remedies and safeguards have been implemented to prevent such activity from occurring in the future, and most if not all of the monies in question have since been repaid to the City.
Since the Grand Jury report became public there have been some questions related to what steps or role the Police Department took in investigating this matter. In the interest of maintaining transparency and trust with the public, the Police Department prepared this release to provide information that has been requested, to the extent that is allowed and appropriate for an ongoing and active investigation.
In February of 2017 information was presented to the Police Chief and the District Attorney that approximately $29,000.00 in public funds were potentially misappropriated by McHatten during his time with the City of Angels Camp. As mentioned, this was discovered by an independent audit of City financial records. Both the Police Chief and the District Attorney agreed that further investigation was warranted.
Due to the nature of the allegations, and lack of local investigative resources, the decision was made to seek outside, independent investigative assistance. This decision was mutually agreed upon by both the Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office. At the request of District Attorney Barbara Yook, the Attorney General’s Office is currently conducting an investigation into this matter.
City staff is cooperating fully with their investigation, and providing whatever assistance is requested to facilitate a timely and thorough investigation. Since an outside law enforcement agency is handling the investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment further on this matter.
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