The former office manager of the Iron County Building and Zoning Department was charged with felony theft and misuse of public funds after being accused of stealing $188,000. The thefts included building permit payments starting back in 2018.
Chelsea Boxwell, who allegedly pocketed cash payments to Iron County, told investigators she had taken some of the government funds to pay for bills and child expenses. Boxwell was initially arrested on Sept. 4 for another theft case that was uncovered during a state audit. Boxwell allegedly wrote fraudulent checks to herself totaling nearly $120,000 between 2022 and 2024.
Boxwell told authorities on June 3 that these checks were from taking money from her part-time job at a property management company. This statement came during the time she allegedly admitted to stealing from Iron County. In total, Boxwell is accused of stealing more than $280,000.
The State Auditor’s Office found that Boxwell had been submitting spreadsheets to the Iron County Auditor’s Office instead of official records. County auditors overlooked missing permit numbers and initially failed to discover the discrepancies. Boxwell was both the one depositing the funds and documenting them on the audit forms.
After the county didn’t find evidence of missing funds, an anonymous tip was made to the State Auditor’s Office in April. The losses were then discovered during a months-long investigation. The tip asked officials to look closely at the handling of cash payments in the permit department after Boxwell’s coworkers noticed suspicious behavior from her. Her coworkers accused her of insisting on handling all payments herself and once accepting a payment through her personal Venmo account.
Utah State Auditor Tina Cannon praised the whistleblower who brought the missing funds to the attention of authorities.
“The best way that I’ve always explained it to people is dual control — to make sure that two sets of eyes are on every transaction and that there is a way to make sure that that check is in your system,” Cannon said. “Even the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and every Latter-day Saint congregation have two sets of eyes on any cash or payments that come in. It always goes through a two-step process.”
Iron County officials said they will review every department in the county to uncover any other thefts and make sure all departments are aware of proper fund attribution and documentation practices.
Author: Payson Davis
Photo courtesy of Fox 13 News
Editor: Hannah Clove
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