The auditor for the City of Pineville, Steven McKay, had some surprising information to share with the City Council at its Jan. 14 meeting – surprising claims about former mayor Rich Dupree regarding handling of the city’s finances.

McKay said he recently spent great deal of time examining transactions involving Dupree and former chief of staff Doug Gann.

McKay reported, “An employee was paid for services outside of employment. These services entail having an animated character show up and perform for several city events. However, checks written to this business were written to several different parties during the year, which appeared to us to be attempts to circumvent the related party issues. In addition, the frequency of using this service and the price charged for this service increased during the year, and after the employee’s tenure ended, were not utilized anymore, which would call into question whether the service was needed at all.

“In addition, the city paid the previous mayor’s son’s band for several performances during the year, and no member of the accounting department was aware of the previous mayor’s relationship with either party. The city could also not provide evidence these transactions were done in at arm’s length.”

City attorney Mark Vilar indicated that the fund mismanagement has “been turned over” to the next level of authorities.

Former mayor Dupree could not be reached for comment.