Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry has confirmed that there is an open investigation into the practices of the county’s former finance director after a recent audit found deficiencies in financial processes that involves $1.1 million in county funds.

The audit presented at the June 3 Board of Commissioners meeting revealed that the former finance director “wired, from the County’s bank account, funds equating to approximately $1.1 million dollars through the end of fiscal year 2023, with subsequent wire transfers occurring into fiscal year 2024.”

Katherine Bigelow had served as the county’s finance director since 2019. She was dismissed in February 2024; on May 10, Perry sent an email to county staff informing them of Bigelow’s “recent passing.”

The county has 60 days from the June 3 audit report presentation to present a plan of action to the Local Government Commission.

In an email to WIZS earlier today, Perry said the audit – a public record – disclosed some of the information, adding that there is little else she can say at this point, per the FBI.

“The County was deprived of its monetary resources, resources which should have gone to covering legitimate expenditures and projects which the County has undertaken,” the audit report stated.

The audit report identified four “significant” audit findings: budget violation, reconciliation of records, internal controls and timeliness. In his presentation to commissioners, Thomas Price said his team at Whiteville-based Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams, and Co., P.A. noted that the county failed to comply with General Statutes by not having a two-signature process in place as it pertains to county funds.

This lack of secondary approval or oversight allowed for the finance director to post entries in the county’s financial software; the audit pointed to lack of sufficient training and cross-training practices to ensure proper handling of financial matters.

Citing timeliness of the numbers and the accuracy of the numbers they were provided, Price said they discovered issues that they couldn’t get satisfactory answers for.

“By November, she (Bigelow) wasn’t giving us information in a timely way,” Price said.

Price conceded that his team could have done a better job briefing Perry – who only came on board in November 2023.

“At that point, we didn’t suspect foul play, but we didn’t know,” Price said.

Over the past three or four months, county staff and the audit team have communicated weekly – sometimes daily, and Perry said, “We’ve had conversations…moving forward, things will be different.”

Commission Chair Dan Brummitt said he would like to see an agreement “defined in writing. There appears to have been some miscommunication along the way,” he said. Brummitt said he would go so far as to create an Audit Committee, made up of commissioners and others with accounting experience.

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