Uncollected funds, illegally accepted gifts, missing AirPods revealed in state audit

DES MOINES — More than $17,000 in uncollected funds owed to the state, $1,700 in improperly accepted gifts, and a missing set of Apple AirPod Pros were tied to a former state employee in a new state audit report published Wednesday.

The state audit, which covered 2020 through 2022, identified $17,206 in uncollected dues to the state, owed by organizers of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and wrestling events held in Iowa. That total included $12,925 in license fees and $4,281 in taxes that were not properly claimed and recorded, according to the audit.

The Iowa Athletic Commission, a division of Iowa Workforce Development, is responsible for collecting fees and taxes for sporting events hosted in Iowa. The IAC worker responsible for those duties at the time covered in the audit was former IAC Program Planner Dawn Chamberlain, according to the audit.

A whistleblower in November of 2022 alerted state officials to possible wrongdoing by Chamberlain. Iowa Workforce Development conducted an internal investigation, and Chamberlain was discharged in December of 2022, according to the audit.

In January of 2023, Iowa Workforce Development notified the state auditor, attorney general and Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board of its investigation. The auditor’s office at that point began its investigation.

“When someone who’s supposed to be protecting the public interest and working for the public starts taking personal payments and starts putting their own interests ahead of their job duties and what they’re supposed to be doing, just makes me sick to my stomach,” Iowa auditor Rob Sand said Wednesday during a news conference. “It’s exactly the kind of thing that undermines trust in our system of self-governance.”

The audit also found that Chamberlain violated state law by improperly accepting gifts totaling $1,742. According to the audit, Chamberlain accepted $1,000 in cash to attend an athletic event as an “event deputy,” and was compensated $742 in airfare and hotel accommodations to attend a Bare Knuckle Fighting event in Denver, according to the audit.

The audit also found that Chamberlain on multiple occasions misrepresented her position in state government, communicated through proper channels, and used her personal accounts to complete financial transactions for the state.

“That intermingling of public money and public obligations, and the personal is always entirely unacceptable,” Sand said during the news conference. “It can be tempting to use Venmo because it’s a convenient tool. But you have to know, everybody knows that you do not intermingle your personal accounts with state business. That is just never, ever, ever appropriate. …

“Just because it’s inconvenient (to properly oversee financial transactions) doesn’t mean that a state employee should ever go and start using their personal account, ‘Oh, just Venmo me and I’ll take care of it.’ That is a recipe for corruption.”

The audit also found that a set of Apple AirPod Pro earbuds, purchased for $175 in June of 2022 and assigned to Chamberlain, were reported missing and never recovered.

“We are proud to say the process of detecting fraud worked — beginning with Iowa Workforce Development,” a department spokesman said via email. “Procedures and controls have since been improved at the Iowa Athletic Commission, and we are confident, with confirmation from (the Department of Inspections and Licensing), that the improvements will continue under DIAL.”

The Iowa Athletic Commission was moved from Iowa Workforce Development to the new Department of Inspections and Appeals on July 1 as part of a reorganization of the executive branch of state government.

Sand said his office has notified the Polk County Attorney’s office of the audit, and that the county attorney or Iowa Attorney General can determine whether to take legal action.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com