A former Madera County employee who was accused of manipulating the county's payroll system so she could increase her take-home pay has reimbursed the county $5,317 but won't face criminal charges, officials announced Tuesday.
Pamela Hunsaker-Ruiz, who was in charge of the county's payroll system from March 2006 to August 2008, intentionally created errors to eliminate deductions from her paycheck for Social Security taxes and state disability insurance premiums, county officials testified last November to a Madera County grand jury.
The officials said she did the same for many of the other 1,700 county workers' paychecks in an attempt to cover her tracks -- creating hundreds of errors each month.
The grand jury was tasked with investigating the allegations against Hunsaker-Ruiz. Ultimately, it determined that there was not enough evidence to press criminal charges. However, it asked the Madera County District Attorney's Office to try to collect the money Hunsaker-Ruiz owed the county.
District Attorney Michael Keitz said his office sent Hunsaker-Ruiz a letter requesting the money and she responded with a check made out to Madera County. He said the amount was determined by the Auditor-Controller's Office.
"The bottom line is that her paycheck was higher than what it should have been," Keitz said.
It's unclear why the grand jury did not recommend criminal charges.
Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said earlier this year that he expected that embezzlement or grand theft charges would be filed. On Tuesday, neither Anderson nor Keitz would comment on why charges were not filed.
It also remains a mystery just how many county employees had their paychecks altered and how much money the county lost because of the alterations. Neither Jim Boyajian, the current auditor-controller, nor Steven Rodriguez, the county's top administrator, returned calls Tuesday.
Hunsaker-Ruiz on Tuesday denied any wrongdoing and said the errors were someone else's fault. She said she sent the District Attorney's Office a check because she feared prosecutors would take more severe action against her if she didn't -- and not because she was guilty of embezzlement.
Hunsaker-Ruiz also said she is considering filing a lawsuit against the county for defamation. She said the suit would try to recoup the money she just paid the county.
Keitz said the District Attorney's Office has now finished its yearlong investigation into the Madera County Auditor-Controller's Office, where Hunsaker-Ruiz had worked.
The office was left in tatters after being overseen for 22 years by Robert DeWall, an elected official who resigned in December after prosecutors filed an accusation that DeWall failed to submit critical reports on time. Those missed deadlines cost the county at least $5.4 million in lost state and federal grants.
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