Former Dearborn City Clerk Sentenced

DEARBORN, MI — Former Dearborn Clerk Kathleen Buda was sentenced to 24 months of probation Friday in connection with an embezzlement scandal. Buda, who worked for the city for more than 20 years and was city clerk from 1997 to her retirement in February 2016, pleaded to the embezzlement charge in exchange for having have six other charges dismissed. In addition to probation, Buda will have to pay court costs and must surrender a portion of her retirement back to the city.

“The city also filed a brief seeking restitution and forfeiture of Buda’s pension, according to City Attorney Debra Walling. Buda’s attorney Gerald Evelyn requested a stay to appeal the issue but was denied by the judge.
Talon ordered that the portion of Buda’s pension be forfeited from the time that she pleaded guilty to the embezzlement count on Dec. 15, 2015, until the date of her retirement Feb. 17, 2016.

“That period will be deducted from her pension time and payments, and we’re in the process of calculating those numbers now,” Walling said. “The city asked that the retirement benefits associated with the time of offense to the date of retirement be forfeited and he agreed.”

For more, go to the Dearborn Press & Guide.

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Photo courtesy of the Michigan State Police