JEFFERSON CITY - Buchanan County Auditor Susan Montee’s failure to audit the county administrator under investigation for embezzling $4 million in Social Security payments raises serious questions about whether Montee intentionally ignored the situation because of her political and personal relationship with the administrator.

The Associated Press reports that state investigators are questioning Bonnie
Sue Lawson in connection with the missing Social Security checks dating back to at least 2005 when complaints were first made to the state Department of Health and Senior Services. Montee, who has the authority to conduct an audit of the state administrator’s office, has received hundreds of dollars in political contributions from friend Lawson.

“The political and personal relationship between Susan Montee and Bonnie Sue Lawson raises serious questions about how millions of dollars in essential payments to elderly Buchanan County residents disappeared right under Montee’s nose,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “Susan Montee must come clean about her relationship with Bonnie Sue Lawson and the role it played in her failure as county auditor. This situation also raises serious issues about Montee’s competency and integrity as a candidate for state auditor.”

State investigators and St. Joseph police have seized computer equipment and other documents from Lawson’s office in a case that potentially affects hundreds of clients. Montee’s failure to monitor the activities of the county administrator is serious since administrators often serve as guardians, conservators, personal representatives and representative payees for certain citizens including minors, the mentally incompetent and the disabled.

“Susan Montee failed to keep an eye on an individual who is entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of the finances for some of our state’s most vulnerable citizens,” Sloca said. “One has to wonder whether her personal and political relationship was more important to her than the citizens of Buchanan County.”