Larry Corrigan, the former financial director of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office who has been charged with allegedly trying to have sex with a teenager, embezzled $72,000 of campaign funds from Prosecutor Norm Maleng, Maleng's campaign committee has announced.
In a letter sent Thursday to Snohomish County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joan Cavagnaro, who is heading up the sex case, campaign treasurer Mike McKay said Corrigan misappropriated the money from May 2004 until early 2005 and returned about $10,000 of it to the campaign fund in January 2006. Corrigan, who maintained bookkeeping duties for Maleng's campaign, sent $67,503.19 back to the campaign trust on Monday, McKay said.
Corrigan's attorney, John Wolfe, confirmed this afternoon that Corrigan admitted to misappropriating the campaign funds.
The campaign committee has retained a forensic accountant to audit the campaign's financial records. Cavagnaro said she is "standing by ready to assist" with any potential criminal charges against Corrigan, but that the matter must first be investigated by a law enforcement agency. Which agency will depend on where the alleged embezzlement took place, she said.
Maleng and his wife were "shocked and saddened" by the alleged misappropriation, said King County prosecutor spokesman Dan Donohoe.
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