TACOMA, Wash. — Editor's note: The above video was published in December.
The former finance director of a public housing authority in Washington state has been indicted on federal charges that she stole nearly $7 million from the agency.
The four-count wire fraud indictment was unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, a day after Cova Campbell was arrested in Redbird, Oklahoma, where she had been living.
The Pierce County Housing Authority fired Campbell last August after the state auditor uncovered financial irregularities.
In a report in December, the auditor's office said Campbell and her husband had stolen $6.9 million since 2016 and used the money to buy property in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, among other things.
The now-former finance director allegedly began with personal purchases on the Housing Authority’s credit cards adding up to more than $25,000, said McCarthy. There were also allegedly $3.2 million in transactions disguised as vendor payments, $635,000 in wire transfers to an out of state bank, and over $3 million in wire transfers directly to Campbell's personal account in Washington, said Washington state auditor Pat McCarthy in December.
The Pierce County Housing Authority is a stand-alone government that’s overseen by a board of commissioners. Its mission is to provide housing opportunities to those in Pierce County.
The agency has an annual budget of about $32 million that's made up of funds from local, state, and federal programs and rent on its properties.
That budget was overseen by Campbell. She was the finance director for 20 years.
McCarthy reported the findings to the FBI.
