FALLS COUNTY, TX — In an exclusive interview with 25 News, Marlin Mayor Carolyn Lofton said she's concerned a so-called "parallel investigation" into Marlin's apparent missing money may hamper her chances of getting to the truth.
With possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars missing, Marlin sent a mountain of financial information to a forensic auditor.
District Attorney Jody Gilliam wanted that paperwork too, resulting in a subpoena surprise that landed both sides in court.
Former Texas Criminal Appeals Judge Morris Overstreet, representing City Manager Cedric Davis, said he's never seen anything like this before.
He helped clear the air, while the district attorney admitted our reporting led to her grand jury investigation.
"It's the citizens of Marlin. It's been put on TV that their money is missing and we need to know if it is or not, and you know, the citizens need to know," said Katherine "Jody" Gilliam.
Mayor Carolyn Lofton agrees the citizens need to know, but worries how "dueling investigations" might hamper the search for the truth.
”I just hope it doesn't interfere with what we're doing and it doesn't cause any tainting of the process at city hall. I just hope it does not interfere with what the forensic auditor is doing,” she explained.
The mayor says the City from the beginning even notified the FBI to potential problems.
"We did give a package [story] to the FBI that you guys covered, me and the mayor, so we don't know where they are with the documentation that they have," said City Manager Cedric Davis.
Could Marlin end up with three separate investigations into the hundreds of thousands of dollars possibly missing? It seems quite possible, but as one person in Marlin put it, they could end up spending a lot of taxpayer money.
