McKay hoops case occupies school police

Thursday, Aug. 5, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

The Clark County School Police force has just one detective assigned to fraud and embezzlement cases -- and he's spent the better part of the past year working on only one investigation, Chief Elliot Phelps said Wednesday.

Since last fall, School Police Detective Loren Johnson has spent his work hours investigating former athletics director Larry McKay and the finances of the basketball tournament he founded.

"It's the only assignment he works," Phelps said of Detective Johnson, who has been with the district for a decade. "It's moving along, we're getting the records necessary and we hope to have something to announce soon."

An internal audit of McKay's handling of the Holiday Prep Classic basketball tournament last fall turned up what Superintendent Carlos Garcia called "shoddy bookkeeping" and "financial improprieties." The audit concluded McKay had improperly used district funds to reimburse himself for personal expenses.

Some people, including School Board members Denise Brodsky and Shirley Barber, have questioned why the McKay case hasn't been resolved yet.

Phelps said while his department could certainly use another full-time detective to work on financial crimes, the McKay investigation has dragged on because of its complexity and not because of a lack of manpower.

"These kinds of cases take a lot of time and a lot of expertise," Phelps said. "We've actually sent him (Johnson) out for advanced training."

With Johnson tied up with the McKay investigation, other officers are pulled in to handle the other cases that come in, such as credit card theft by students or embezzlement by employees, Phelps said. But with 19 officer vacancies it's necessary to prioritize needs, Phelps said.

Without a full roster, making sure school sites and patrol shifts are covered is more critical than the lack of a second investigator of financial crimes, Phelps said.

Such investigations often take time, said Clark County Sheriff Bill Young.

Other than homicides and some drug trafficking cases that can take years to resolve, financial crimes are typically the most time-consuming investigations, Young said.

"There are so many different roads to take -- getting records from banks and credit card companies takes subpoenas, they don't just hand them over," Young said. "If you're asking me if I'm surprised that the McKay investigation takes a year I'd say it doesn't surprise me a bit."

Metro, along with the Nevada Division of Criminal Investigations, has been assisting school police with the McKay case.

Metro's financial crimes division, which has 13 officers assigned to forgery and another 12 dedicated to fraud cases, has been busier than ever this year. Young said he has no desire to, nor has he been asked to, supplement the district's school police investigative staff.

Given the size of the school district, which is the state's largest public employer, occasional instances of criminal activity by employees is expected, Young said.

"We're not talking about a crime spree; so far what we've seen is internal theft," Young said. "What matters is how the district and the school police handle it, and from what I can tell they've been doing a good job."

Missing district funds and evidence of embezzlement, theft and mishandling have turned up at several schools over the past four years, including:

The financial records of about 100 campuses are examined each year, said Lyn Vinson, director of the district's internal audit department. High school and middle school campuses are audited twice as often as elementary schools because of the larger amounts of cash typically handled, Vinson said.

The minimum time requirement to complete an audit is about 20 hours, but in some cases audits have gone on for months, Vinson said.

The School Police's review of an internal audit can also take several months, Phelps said. Complicating the investigation are outside factors, such as employees who may have transferred to new schools or left the state. And before charges can be brought, District Attorney David Roger's office must also review the case and authorize the warrants, Phelps said.

"I can't say we could do this any faster than we're already moving," Phelps said. "There are elements here that are beyond our control."