Liberty mail office closes; $19,000 missing

An internal audit
conducted by the post
office shows more than $19,000 missing.

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

LIBERTY — Township residents are going to have use a post office other than the township-operated postal service in the government building here to send holiday mail and packages.

Throughout the day Tuesday, would-be postal patrons walked up the outer doors at the township government building, only to be met by two signs telling them the postal service inside the building has been closed by township trustees — and would remain closed until further notice.

The postal services in the government building are not operated directly by the United States Postal Service. The township, via a contract with the post office, operates the site, buying all material and hiring all staff, then selling stamps and other needed items to the public.

Township Administrator Pat Ungaro said the township is paid a 7 percent commission for all items sold.

Ungaro said it’s unclear how long the postal services will be closed.

“There are some issues involving the entire operation of the post office that must be resolved before the office can be reopened,” he said.

Police Chief Anthony Slifka said the issues Ungaro speaks of stem from an internal audit conducted by the post office that shows more than $19,000 missing from the office over the course of a year.

“We have had a CPA look at the audit conducted by the postal service to determine that the audit is correct. We are going to determine whether there was any criminal action,” he said.

The post office has four township employees. Slifka said none of those employees can be excluded from the investigation until police have had an opportunity to look at the situation more critically.

Slifka said previous audits have turned up very minor discrepancies in money that can be attributed to small mistakes in handling money, but never a loss as large as the $19,000 discrepancy in the recent audit.

“$19,000 is hard to call a mistake,” he said.

jgoodwin@vindy.com