Neshoba CO Administrator Ordered to Pay in Fraud Scandal

NESHOBA CO, Miss. (WCBI)- A Former Neshoba County administrator is ordered to pay a hefty fine for his role in a corruption scandal.

Special Agents from the State Auditor’s Office have served Benjie Coats, ordering him to pay $39, 341.50.

Coats, the former County Administrator for Neshoba County, was indicted on one count of fraud in September.

Coats, along with others, was at the center of an investigation by the State Auditor’s Office into an apparent overtime pay scheme.

The individuals submitted in excess of 30,000 hours of overtime pay for which they did not work.

Tommy Gomillion, Former Neshoba County Payroll Clerk, Julie Faye Russell, former Neshoba County Purchasing Clerk, and Jill Watkins, former Neshoba County Comptroller must payback more than $1.3 million after being indicted on 7 counts of fraud each, earlier this year.