Press release
Milan, MI, January 16, 2015 – Former Clerk/Treasurer for the City of Milan, Ms. Sherry
Steinwedel, was arraigned in 1st District Court in Monroe on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 on a
charge of Embezzlement by a Public Official over $50.00. The charge is a felony and if
convicted carries a maximum penalty of not more than 10 years in prison or a fine of not more
than $5,000.00.
It is alleged that the former Clerk/Treasurer, who had already announced her resignation and was
in the process of transitioning out at the time this was discovered, had used her city credit card
for personal transactions. There does not appear to be any direct correlation between the
resignation and the discovery of this matter.
The City of Milan’s auditing firm, Post, Smythe, Lutz, and Ziel, LLP discovered what appeared
to be discrepancies involving one of the funds that was being reviewed in late November of
2014, during the annual audit process. The matter was turned over to the Milan Police Chief to
initiate a police report, and to contact the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office and the Michigan
State Police to request an independent investigation, which has been completed and resulted in
the listed charge. A complete review of the transactions involving the card in question indicated
the activity appears to involve a sum under $5,000.00. The transactions were being recorded as
personal purchases within the fund in question.
This appears to be an isolated problem, as the annual audit has been completed and there were no
other discrepancies discovered. The audit has been completed and turned into the Michigan
Department of Treasury for their review.
The City of Milan is committed to transparency, as well as a high level of ethics within city
government. The city has been in the process of and will continue to implement procedures
which will provide for more efficient monitoring systems of the city’s finances by City
Administration.