Evansville Police have arrested a former Vanderburgh County Commissioner after a year-long fraud investigation. WNIN’s John Gibson has the story:
Democrat Ben Shoulders reported in October 2023 that he had discovered several fraudulent eBay purchases on his bank statement.
Shoulders advised that he was also seeking reimbursement for the fraudulent charges from the bank.
The EPD says the reported fraud occurred to Shoulder’s campaign bank account, “Shoulders For Commissioner.”
Police say a review of the Shoulders campaign account showed numerous discrepancies, including money documented as donated to local non-profits, but detectives found that the donations never occurred.
Investigators also say sports memorabilia purchased with the campaign account, and reportedly not made by Shoulders, were found to be documented by eBay as being shipped to Shoulder’s address.
Checks were also found to have been moved from the campaign account into a separate account opened by Shoulders.
Police say the investigation determined that about $55,000 from the “Shoulders For Commissioner” account was misused by the 45-year-old Shoulders.
He faces charges of attempted fraud on a financial institution, 2 counts of filing a fraudulent election report, and other misdemeanors.
Shoulders resigned from the County Commission January 1st.
Democrat Mike Goebel won a party caucus for the seat.