HOPEWELL TWP, Beaver County - What began as a simple call for computer tech support has mushroomed into a full-blown state police investigation of questionable accounting practices at the Councils of Governments of Beaver and Butler Counties.

State police say they are investigating the financial accounts of the COG following a discovery that the organization failed to pay computer maker Dell Corporation about $43,000 for computer equipment.

Once police informed the COG's 10-member executive board of the unpaid bill in February, the board suspended executive director Sharon Sambol without pay. The board then named COG employee Jan Tagliaferi interim executive director.

Sambol could not be reached for comment.

State police Trooper Rocco DeMaiolo, who is handling the investigation, said Beaver County Detective Kim Clements was informed in October that Dell would not help her with ongoing technical problems because the county's computers, purchased about five years ago, were never paid for.

The system had been funded by federal and state grants given to the COG, which were then supposed to be forwarded to Dell.

DeMaiolo said Clements followed up on her discovery by requesting information about the transaction from Sambol, who produced cancelled check numbers.

"The check numbers and the amounts just didn't match," he said.

At a meeting of the executive board Monday, treasurer Bettelou Bertoncello informed members that only $5,500 remains in the organization's general account.

DeMaiolo said investigators have not verified how much money, if any, is missing. He said all funding to and from COG is on hold, with many of the organization's files either missing or incomplete.

He said a forensic accountant, who specializes in reviewing past uses of financial accounts, has been hired to sort through COG's transactions. The Internal Revenue Service is also investigating the matter.

"It's a tedious process. We're going back years," DeMaiolo said.

In February, the COG hired Venango County-based law firm Wilson and Thompson to represent the board in the investigation.

Board members did not know when the investigation would be completed.

DeMaiolo said board members have been cooperative with the inquiry, and have given investigators free access to all records. He said no court orders were needed to gain information.

"They weren't trying to hide anything," he said.

COG's Hopewell Township office was closed all day Thursday, and there are conflicting reports on whether it would be reopened on a regular basis. Tagliaferi was unavailable for health reasons.

The bi-county COG is a loose affiliation of municipalities and school districts that cooperate to draft grants and purchase large amounts of commodities.

The nonprofit group is composed of 77 members, 20 of which are in Butler County, and is mostly funded by grants and membership dues, which are $600 a year.

The COG also sponsors a regional police network, consisting of a service base in the Hopewell Township municipal building and mobile laptop computers stationed in police cruisers.

The computers have instantaneous access to state and federal law enforcement databases, such as the National Crime Information Center and the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network.

These enable police to quickly verify motor vehicle data such as license plate numbers and registration information. Officers are also alerted if a driver is wanted in other states.

Without the system, police would be forced to request information from the Butler County Communications Center, which would generally take more time.

Stephen Mannell, director of public safety for Cranberry Township, was one COG member appointed to a task force charged with finding a solution to the system's funding shortage.

Mannell suggested charging municipalities for the use of the system.

Currently, members do not pay COG for an account on the network. They do pay providers for their individual service on the network.

He said the COG needs to pay service providers, such as Verizon, $7,000 a month to keep the network running.

O

utstanding bills also are owed to Internet service providers AT&T and CellOne.

He did not say how much was owed to each creditor.

"We're coming up with an interim plan," he said.

Mannell suggested charging each user $75 per month to maintain the account with COG and $35 a month per computer on the network.

He estimated about $8,000 per month could be raised in fees from the 46 municipalities and 173 computers connected to the system.

"This is not an easy issue," he said.

Mannell, along with police chiefs from throughout the two counties, met in Hopewell Township Wednesday to discuss the issue.

The board agreed to create a new bank account, separate from COG's account, to hold any additional funds directed toward stabilizing the computer system.

COG president Dot Trimer said all members have been invoiced for supplies and services provided by COG "as closely as we were able to tell."

"The invoicing was not done properly or at all," she said.

In Evans City, police chief Joseph McCombs informed the borough council of the network's uncertain future at a workshop meeting in March. He said Evans City has three mobile computers, which were to be equipped to download driver license photos.

"It's a good system. They're improving it all the time," he said.

Zelienople police chief Jim Miller said the borough has four laptops in the department's squad cars. He said when the system is working properly, it is efficient and saves time.

"I don't know what's going to happen," said Miller.

"Hopefully someone will have some answers."

Cranberry Township manager Jerry Andree said his staff and personnel from all of the member municipalities have begun to cooperate in running the basic operations of the COG

This includes organizing the spring commodities bidding process.

He said the group's survival is paramount because it saves money for municipalities and taxpayers. He estimated that COG saves the township $50,000 a year.

He said communicating to all members has been difficult because of the group's size, and that information in COG's membership databases is inaccurate.

Andree said that after vendors are notified and the bidding for spring commodities is completed, COG will begin to rebuild and reorganize.

"We've sort of done some triage. We've stopped the bleeding and next we'll be working on rebuilding and organizational issues," he said.