Theft charge filed against ex-state employee

HELENA — A felony theft charge has been filed against the former head of the state’s Job Service Operations Bureau for nearly $18,000 in charges for items the state claims it did not receive, including trips to conferences and gift certificates.

The charge against Tiffany David was filed Wednesday by the state Attorney General’s Office in the Montana 1st Judicial District Court in Lewis and Clark County. Her initial court appearance is Feb. 24.

If found guilty, she could be fined $50,000, be sent to state prison for as long as 10 years or both.

Her attorney, Carlo Canty, called the filing an “unfortunate situation.”

“People make mistakes, and Tiffany made some mistakes but is doing everything she can” to resolve this, he said, adding she has been cooperative from the beginning of the investigation.

“She has met every request from the state and has been candid, honest and open with what happened,” Canty said.

The Department of Labor and Industry declined to comment.

David resigned Nov. 13 amid allegations of improper use of state funds and the matter was referred to the attorney general’s office.

In an affidavit filed Wednesday, Brant S. Light, assistant attorney general, said that on 13 occasions between Aug. 23, 2012, and June 22, 2015, David made $9,779 in purchases from Amazon on a personal credit card and was reimbursed by the Department of Labor and Industry, Light said.

He said the department’s investigation “revealed that in each incident the orders were either never processed from Amazon and/or the items were returned for a refund by the defendant.”

He said the Department of Labor and Industry never received the funds for the reimbursements.

In March, July and September, David submitted receipts for about $4,088 in purchases from the Society for Human Resources Management for items she never bought.

Light also said the defendant charged nearly $2,265 in books and other items from Amazon using her state credit card. Of that, she returned $500 in items and received gift card credits, which were not put on the state credit card.

On June 1, David asked to attend a conference in Portland, Ore. She requested $1,182 on charges to her personal credit card and $352 for a travel reimbursement. However, the conference organizer said the defendant did not attend or register, Light said.

The total reimbursed expenses was $1,534, officials said.

According to the state’s website, the Job Service Operations Bureau coordinates workforce development services in local communities.

It helps businesses maintain programs, local budgets, staffing, performance standards and reporting and internal performance review.