Mahoning probate court undergoing special audit as probe against Belinky continues

YOUNGSTOWN

The state auditor’s office is conducting a special audit of the Mahoning County Probate Court, a spokeswoman for State Auditor Dave Yost has confirmed.

“We do have a special audit of the probate court, but we can’t really speak to specifics about an audit while it’s ongoing,” said Carrie Bartunek, Yost’s press secretary.

Bartunek declined to disclose the nature of the allegations being investigated, the time period the probe is covering or who is being investigated. She said the probate court would be billed for the audit, the cost of which she could not estimate.

A special audit is a limited-scope examination of financial records and other information designed to investigate allegations of fraud, theft, or misappropriation of funds, or to quantify the extent of such losses, Bartunek explained.

Special prosecutors from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office requested the special audit because of the investigation of former probate judge Mark Belinky, said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the AG’s office.

“The case against Mr. Belinky is still open and ongoing,” Tierney said, declining to comment further.

Belinky pleaded guilty to tampering with records by failing to record campaign finance transactions and is on two years’ probation.

The matter of the special audit surfaced publicly when Susan Maruca, the Democratic candidate for probate judge, disclosed the probe during her Tuesday candidate interview with The Vindicator’s editorial board.

Read more about the probe in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.