Former Port of Mattawa director under investigation for misuse of funds

Key points 

Lars Leland, former Port of Mattawa executive director, may have misappropriated port funds. 

Port officials issued a statement saying the issue came to light while preparations were being made for an audit. 

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the findings of an audit by the Washington State Auditor’s Office.  

MATTAWA — The Grant County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a report from the Washington State Auditor’s Office that found former Port of Mattawa General Manager Lars Leland may have misappropriated port funds. Port commissioners said in a statement that some possible irregularities were discovered while port officials were preparing for an audit. 

“Consistent with state law, the port immediately notified the Washington state auditor. The auditor’s subsequent investigation confirmed that, under a previous administration, public funds had been misappropriated. The Port of Mattawa is committed to pursuing a full recovery of the misappropriated funds and all related investigative costs,” the statement said.  

The misappropriations allegedly occurred between January 2022 and December 2023.  

“We determined through our investigations that the former executive director misappropriated at least $6,958,” the WSAO report said. “We also found questionable (credit card) transactions totaling $10,486 that occurred between Dec. 14, 2022, and Nov. 17, 2023, for which we were unable to determine if they had a legitimate business purpose.” 

Leland has repaid $3,619, including $3,000 for lodging while he attended a college class in 2022. He drew a salary for the week he attended the class, the report said, which was a departure from previous classes. In those cases, Leland took classes outside of work hours.  

“Without additional documentation, we are unable to confirm commissioners agreed he could take time off for his education without using leave,” it said.  

Leland allegedly used the port’s credit cards for some personal purchases, the audit report said. He also cashed out unused sick leave, totaling about $13,100, in December 2022 and November 2023. Leland was port executive director in 2020, when commissioners approved a policy prohibiting employees from cashing out unused sick leave. 

Leland was interviewed by WSAO officials in February and said he thought the purchases would be covered, since he was getting additional education. 

“(Leland) later found out those purchases were not allowable,” the report said. 

Leland said he was not aware the sick leave cashout was prohibited, it said. He was provided a list of the questioned purchases and asked to provide receipts; he said the purchases were related to port business, the audit report said, but didn’t provide any supporting documents.  

The report was given to the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office.  

“The prosecutor decides whether any criminal charges are warranted,” wrote Adam Wilson, WSAO assistant director of communications, in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. “Our role is to investigate a potential misappropriation or the use of public funds for an unauthorized purpose. If we determine a misappropriation occurred, we forward our report to the county prosecutor and the county prosecutor may choose to investigate from there.” 

Grant County Prosecutor Kevin McCrae said the WSAO report was sent to the GCSO, which is the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction. Kyle Foreman, GCSO public information officer, said the case is now under investigation.  

The WSAO recommended that port officials implement additional financial controls, including better tracking of credit card use, transactions and receipts, and implement an independent review of all employee payroll and leave. Port commissioners said they planned to do that.  

“The Port of Mattawa is also implementing every (state auditor’s office) recommended policy and control to safeguard public resources moving forward,” the port statement said.