State police open investigation into missing money in Marianna
State police have an open investigation into the theft of money from Marianna Borough.
Police said Friday the money went missing between January 2018 and September when Marianna council fired former secretary/treasurer Erica Pinkney.
Charges have not been filed at this time, police said. The two-sentence news release from police on the investigation also didn’t identify a suspect.
The borough petitioned Washington County Court of Common Pleas in an effort to force Pinkney to produce missing borough records. Pinkney denied having the missing records in late February before President Judge Katherine B. Emery.
Emery concluded Pinkney abandoned her appointed job as borough tax collector, and determined the court had no other recourse in the matter.
As a result of the missing records, the borough hasn’t been collecting any real estate taxes, borough solicitor Lane Turturice said.
“They’re going to play catch-up with tax revenues,” Turturice said.
He said the borough has money to pay bills.
“Yes, the borough is actively working with Pennsylvania state police on this theft investigation,” Turturice said.
He said he was unable to comment further on the case because it’s an open investigation.
Pinkney’s attorney, Jack Heneks Jr., said he doesn’t comment on cases that involve active police investigations.