(Radio Iowa) – A special investigation by the State Auditor’s office has found the former city clerk of Eldridge improperly spent more than 76-thousand dollars of city money and there were no records for another 87-hundred dollars worth of transaction. Auditors reviewed more than four and a half years of financial records for the City of Eldridge when Denise Benson was city clerk and found she made more than 42-thousand dollars worth of purchases for herself with the city’s credit card. They found receipts for things like electronics, toys, clothes for adults and children, a sewing machine and a dog door. She also used the card to pay for an Amazon Prime membership.

A news release from the State Auditor’s office indicates Benson used more than 16-thousand dollars in city money to pay her own Capital One credit card bill. Benson had worked for the City of Eldridge since 1992 and had been city clerk for nearly 20 years when city officials began asked questions about credit card transactions last October and she was fired at the end of the month.