Auditor of State's Special Investigations Unit Secures 23 Convictions, $3.1 million in Court-ordered Restitution in 2025

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ohio Auditor of State's Office today released its list of the Top Five Government Fraud Convictions of 2025, highlighting cases that protected taxpayer dollars.

"The overwhelming majority of public employees do their jobs with the highest level of professionalism," Ohio Auditor of State Faber said. "Fraud is rare, but when it occurs, no matter how big or small, it severely erodes the public's trust in our work."

In 2025, the Auditor of State's Office secured 23 convictions and about $3.1 million in court-ordered restitution. The Auditor of State's Special Investigation Unit (SIU) brings together forensic accounting experts, fraud detectives, and attorneys with expertise in white-collar criminal prosecution to investigate government fraud. Since 2019, the SIU has secured 153 convictions for fraud and 272 findings for recovery totaling more than $28.5 million.

Following are the "Top Five" convictions of 2025:

• Kacie Antonik, former executive director of the Eastern Ohio Housing Development Corp., was sentenced to 4 years and 11 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $2.36 million after she was convicted in Belmont County on felony counts of aggravated theft, tampering with records and forgery.
• Eric Taft, a former Violet Township firefighter in Fairfield County, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $232,000 after he was convicted on felony counts of aggravated theft and tampering with records.
• Linda McCullough, former fiscal officer for Vienna Township in Trumbull County, was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $132,000 after she was convicted on 10 total felony counts, including theft in office, telecommunications fraud and tampering with records.
• Julie Neff, former utility clerk for the Village of Byesville, was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay restitution totaling more than $127,000 after she was convicted in Guernsey County on felony counts of theft in office and tampering with records.
• Timothy Holland, former executive director of the Clermont Metropolitan Housing Authority, was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $87,000 in restitution after he was convicted on a felony count of federal program theft.

Also in 2025, the Auditor of State's Office launched a government fraud awareness campaign to help Ohioans better understand common warning signs of fraud in government and encourage the reporting of suspected wrongdoing by public officials and employees.

Signs of fraud often include a sudden and unexplained change in an employee's lifestyle or demeanor, refusal to take vacations or sick leave, poorly defined job duties without adequate monitoring, poor record keeping and irregular financial documentation and service contracts for which there is no product.

Additional signs of fraud are outlined on the auditor's Stop Fraud page. 

The Auditor of State's Office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,900 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.

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SOURCE Ohio Auditor of State