The Great County Treasury Heist
After fleeing to Whidbey Island, a disgraced ex-treasurer remains at large while investigators uncover a web of missing warrants and forged securities.
Damp, who made his escape from the county, has been located on Whidbey Island, and three deputies are engaged in making a search for him on the island. It has been discovered that he was taken from this city on the night of his escape in a rowboat, and that a tug picked him up out in the sound and took him to Tatoosh Island, where he has since been concealed. Efforts are being made to effect his capture. The county commissioners have offered an additional reward of $500, making a total sum of $1,000 offered for any information aiding in the capture of the ex-treasurer. It is thought that if Damp is caught, he may make some startling disclosures concerning the manner in which the sum of money he is short was used, and it is said that others may have been involved. New irregularities are being discovered daily in the treasurer's office, and there is little prospect that the deficit will be covered.
“New irregularities are being discovered daily in the treasurer's office, and there is little prospect that the deficit will be covered.”
Public corruption and the 'missing funds' scandal were constant anxieties in the rapid-growth era of 1890s Seattle. Today, while digital auditing has replaced rowboat escapes, the tension between public trust and the management of municipal coffers remains a central theme in local governance.
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