RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — Members of Ravenswood City Council voted to fire city clerk/treasurer Kimberly Benson in a special meeting Friday night.
Benson was charged this week by state police with credit card fraud and 19 counts of computer fraud after she allegedly spent more than $1,500 of the city’s money on personal items.
Benson had been on administrative leave. The fraud investigation began in February.
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.