“Certainly the public has an interest in any case that involves alleged public corruption,” says Bob Cooney, Prosecuting Attorney for Grand Traverse County.
A state trooper charged with embezzlement, two years after money disappeared from an evidence room.
Former State Police Sergeant Malcom Irwin is now charged with taking the money from the Cadillac Post.
The Grand Traverse County Prosecutors Office says the money was stolen back in 2014.
9&10’s Megan Atwood brings us more details on why the charges took so long.
“Theft by a public official is obviously a concern and we are going to make sure that we do everything we can to make sure we have all the facts,” says Grand Traverse County prosecuting attorney, Bob Cooney.
In 2014, nearly 10,000 dollars went missing from the evidence room at the Cadillac Michigan State Police Post. Malcom Irwin supervised the room.
“When I received the complaint there were a lot of details that I felt we needed to investigate further. We had a punch list of items that we wanted to see investigated before making a decision with the case,” continues Cooney.
The first on that list was an audit of the Cadillac Post. It was a request that took time to complete.
“We requested our own independent financial audit to be done by a different forensic auditor than what the Michigan state police had originally had,” Cooney goes on to say.
Michigan State Police won’t comment on the case, saying it’s a personnel issue.
And the prosecutor’s charging Irwin with embezzlement of a public official.
Bob Cooney concludes, “I certainly wanted to make sure that I had all of the facts and that the investigation was complete as possible.”
© 2023 - 910 Media Group
