COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Auditor of State’s Office secured 23 criminal convictions and more than $3.1 million in court‑ordered restitution in 2025, according to a year‑end release outlining the agency’s top fraud cases.
Auditor Keith Faber said “the overwhelming majority of public employees do their jobs with the highest level of professionalism,” adding that “fraud is rare, but when it occurs, no matter how big or small, it severely erodes the public’s trust in our work.”
The convictions were the result of investigations by the office’s Special Investigations Unit, which includes forensic accountants, fraud investigators, and attorneys focused on white‑collar crime. Since 2019, the unit has secured 153 convictions and issued 272 findings for recovery totaling more than $28.5 million.
The office identified the following as its top five fraud convictions of 2025:
- Kacie Antonik, former executive director of the Eastern Ohio Housing Development Corp., was sentenced in Belmont County to four years and 11 months in prison and ordered to pay $2.36 million in restitution after convictions for 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 more than $232,000 in restitution after convictions for 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 more than $132,000 in restitution after she was convicted on 10 felony counts, including theft in office, telecommunications frau,d and tampering with records.
- Julie Neff, a former utility clerk for the Village of Byesville, was sentenced in Guernsey County to six months in jail and ordered to pay more than $127,000 in restitution after convictions for 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 a conviction for federal program theft.
The Auditor’s Office also launched a statewide fraud‑awareness campaign in 2025 to help residents identify and report suspected wrongdoing in public agencies. The release notes that warning signs can 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.”