DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An outside audit found that a Des Moines library employee who died in April improperly charged more than $28,000 to a library credit card. The auditors the city hired found that Bekki Kirkland made 159 fraudulent transactions between 2016 and 2020. Roughly one-third of the improper purchases the former office manager made were to purchase prepaid VISA gift cards.

Library staff discovered several suspicious purchases on a credit card Kirkland was authorized to use shortly after her death. Library Director Sue Woody said in a statement that additional procedures have been put in place to protect library funds in the future.