Improper payments to DeSoto councilwoman’s husband now top $140K, according to audit

A DeSoto City Council member’s husband pocketed more than $140,000 in misappropriated public funds when he served as chief of economic development, according to an investigative firm hired by the city to audit his spending.

The figure far exceeds previous estimates of improper payments Jeremiah Quarles is alleged to have received before he left his job in late 2016. He pleaded guilty last year to stealing $9,000 that benefited him and his wife, Councilwoman Candice Quarles, and received probation.

In a December briefing to DeSoto officials, investigators with Nelson Forensics & Advisory Services of Dallas disclosed that they had identified another form of self-enrichment. Jeremiah Quarles took 28 days of personal leave without informing his bosses, costing the city $13,000, they said.

He also took a $97,000 severance payment and a separate $6,900 bonus because officials did not know at the time that he had bilked public funds, according to the investigators, who asked city officials to consider trying to recover that money and other lost funds, through litigation if necessary. An additional $17,000, previously identified as questionable, was recklessly spent on fuel, lunches and travel.

The Dallas Morning News viewed a recording of the briefing, which drew little public notice nine days before Christmas. The full forensic report is expected to be discussed during a town hall meeting Thursday evening. Jeremiah and Candice Quarles, who have stayed silent during the monthslong inquiry, declined to comment for this story.

Demand for audit

Residents of this Dallas suburb have been awaiting the results since August when they demanded city officials launch the audit. The outcry came after The News revealed that the councilwoman had profited from her husband’s fraud — a fact city officials had kept secret for two years — and that no in-depth audit had been ordered to understand the extent of the financial abuse.

The councilwoman told police she was unaware her husband had illegally purchased thousands of dollars in memberships to civic organizations for her. But legal experts have questioned how she could not have known about such large payouts on her behalf.

Residents hoping for more insight from the audit into her involvement could be disappointed.

In the briefing, the forensic experts said little about the councilwoman. Asked whether they found evidence implicating her in her husband’s wrongdoing, they said no, but cautioned that some bank records still need to be scrutinized.

Three payments Jeremiah Quarles made in 2015 were troubling, the auditors said. He used the city credit card to purchase sponsorships and other items associated with the Urban League of Greater Dallas Young Professionals, a group his wife headed for years.

The News reported in October that the councilwoman’s tweets placed her in close proximity to her husband during events or outings funded by his questionable payments, including an Urban League leadership conference.