Wilmington man charged with double-billing

• Wilmington man charged with double-billing

Yesterday, Beau’s office announced the arrest of a Wilmington man for double-billing the State of Delaware for more than $25,000. William Golt was charged with theft, falsifying records and assorted other charges for allegedly billing the New Castle County Family Court twice for various services. Protecting taxpayers by punishing vendors who seek to defraud our government is a priority for Beau — he and the Department of Justice will continue to prosecute those who seek to swindle our communities.

For more, see coverage from the Delaware State News, reprinted below.

Man charged with double-billing state

Wilmington-based Golt took more than $25,000, officials say

By Logan B. Anderson, Delaware State News

DOVER — A Wilmington-based Dela ware Family Court service provider has been charged with theft, falsifying records and other charges after court officials and the state auditor’s office discovered that it had allegedly bilked the state for more than $25,000.

Last year, officials discovered that Golt Adjustment Services Inc. allegedly double billed New Castle County Family Court for services delivered between December 2008 and July 2009.

The vendor worked for the Division of Child Support Enforcement serving legal papers to clients.

“Special investigators from the attorney general’s fraud division arrested William O. Golt on Aug. 11 and charged him with four counts of felony theft, one count of misdemeanor theft, and five counts of falsifying business records, a misdemeanor,” said Jason P. Miller, a spokesman with the Delaware Department of Justice. Family Court officials first discovered the discrepancy in April 2009 and reported their findings to the Office of the Auditor of Accounts.

“Family Court found what they thought were some questionable billings,” said R. Thomas Wagner Jr., the state’s auditor.

“ They called us and we found that there was double billing going on. In essence, the state was paying for the delivery of the same documents twice.”

In the auditor’s report, released on Aug. 19, the auditor recommended the state try to recover the $25,871 Mr. Golt’s company allegedly took from the state.

What the auditor’s office found was evidence that Mr. Golt allegedly sent bills to the Division of Child Support Enforcement and Family Court administrators.

The auditor’s office also said the “family court’s internal controls concerning the review and approval of invoices received from vendors for this service was inadequate.”

“It was caught early on in the process,” Mr. Wagner said. “ The good news is that it was caught, it was caught by family court, we put it together and referred it to the Attorney General’s Office and they did their thing. The system works.”

Mr. Golt will appear in court on Monday. He was released on $20,000 unsecured bond following a bail hearing at Justice of the Peace Court 20.

Though the alleged incident was dis covered in 2009 and an arrest was made on Aug. 11, the auditor’s office waited to release its report until after the state’s Department of Justice completed its investigation.

“By doing these preventative measures we caught something that could have wound up costing a lot more money,” Mr. Wagner said.

Staff writer Logan B. Anderson can be reached at 741-8230 or landerson@newszap.com.