Beaufort County Clerk of Court Elizabeth Smith accused of embezzlement
Beaufort County clerk of court indicted and resigns
Beaufort County Clerk of Court Elizabeth Smith (far right in picture above last November 22 with South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal, center forward in green suit) was indicted today on numerous charges and resigned her office.
The indictments were announced at a press conference by Solicitor Duffie Stone of South Carolina’s 14th Judicial Circuit, which includes Beaufort and four other nearby counties.
According to the indictments Smith is accused of
- Taking funds from the circuit court’s fines and fees account to pay for life insurance policies on members of her family;
- Taking funds from the clerk of court’s bondsmen account to pay for improvements to her family’s house at Pawley’s Island SC;
- Committing acts of “habitual negligence, fraud and/or corruption while acting in an official capacity as a public official”.
The total amount of the funds allegedly embezzled is $33,283.52.
Smith resigned today from her office as Beaufort County clerk of court, according to the South Carolina governor’s office. As an elected official, Smith was required to submit her resignation to the governor, Mark Sanford.
Photo: South Carolina Judicial Department web site.
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- Full text of State Senator Tom Davis’s “Dear Friend” e-mail
- Senator Tom Davis signals upcoming decision against Mark Sanford
- Beaufort County sheriff’s office offers Citizen’s Police Academy
