Former Clerk-Treasurer Tamara Clevenger charged with wire fraud in a nine-year scheme that embezzled over $930,000 from the City of Morton in Lewis County, Washington.
Seattle – In a shocking revelation, Tamara (Tammy) Clevenger, the former Clerk-Treasurer for the City of Morton, has been charged federally with wire fraud. The charges stem from a nine-year scheme to steal nearly $1 million from city coffers, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller.
Clevenger served as the Clerk-Treasurer for Morton from 2012 to 2022. In 2024, an audit by the Washington State Auditor uncovered years of embezzlement totaling $937,584. Clevenger is expected to enter a plea to the wire fraud charge next month.
“I commend the State Auditor’s Office for their good work on this case,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Miller. “It is critical that all of our government entities have multiple safeguards in place to prevent the theft of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”
According to the charging information, Clevenger allegedly used a variety of ways to steal funds. Between November 2015 and December 2021, she stole at least $311,727 of cash that citizens had brought in to pay for city services. In some instances, she would write a check from one city account to another to conceal the theft of the cash. She also made unauthorized cash withdrawals with the Morton ATM card.
Between February 2013 and December 2021, Clevenger allegedly stole at least $625,857 by writing checks to herself and depositing them in her bank account. Clevenger would allegedly use checks that had been pre-signed by the mayor for use in emergency situations. Clevenger allegedly used fake vendor invoices to make it appear the checks had been written for a service rendered to the city. Clevenger’s actions used interstate wires to commit the fraud with the transfer of funds between various bank accounts. One example is the transfer of $5,808 in funds from Washington to Umpqua bank servers located outside the state.
Following the audit, the City of Morton established new procedures so that no single person had control of the various banking functions.
The FBI and IRS worked with the Washington State Auditor’s Office on the criminal financial investigation.
The charges contained in the information are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda McDowell. Wire fraud is punishable by up to twenty years in prison.
Defendant: Tamara Clevenger
Criminal Charge: Wire fraud
City and State: Morton, Washington
Date: 2024
Sentence: Pending plea
Dollar Amount: $937,584
Related Federal Cases
- Laquanta Grant, Tax Fraud and Identity Theft, Alabama 2010 · Washington
- HHS Office of Inspector General, Health Fraud, Washington D.C., 2024 · New York
- June Gibbs-Brown, Healthcare Fraud Enforcement, Washington DC, 1993 · Pennsylvania
- June Gibbs Brown, Health Care Fraud Fighter, Washington DC, 2023 · Pennsylvania
- Government Watchdogs Recover $4B from Medicare Fraud, Washington DC… · Alabama
Key Facts
- State: Washington
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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