Harrisburg fraud charges could eventually lead to more clarity

(Harrisburg) — Federal fraud charges against Harrisburg could lead to more clarity about the city’s finances.

The capital city has agreed to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission by making improvements to its financial disclosure statements after it was found to have mislead investors from 2009 to 2011.

Tara Leo Auchey writes about city issues on her blog, Today’s the Day Harrisburg.

Speaking on witf‘s Radio Smart Talk, she says SEC regulators don’t name names in their report, but the timeline covers the administrations of both former Mayor Stephen Reed and current Mayor Linda Thompson.

“We have them misleading in 2009, and then in 2010 and 2011, we just have an administration that didn’t know what to do,” Auchey explains. “They didn’t file the information, they didn’t know how to access the numbers, perhaps, that they were supposed to be using. We’re not quite sure, the report doesn’t get into that, and we haven’t had any explanation out of the Thompson administration.”

Auchey says the SEC report also serves as a stern warning to municipalities and leaders about their financial reporting obligations.