ABITA SPRINGS, La. (WVUE) - Abita Springs Mayor Dan Curtis said he is embarrassed over recent revelations of financial misconduct. He said two former employees, Stacy Ludlow and Ricky Young, broke the law by charging tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses on the town credit cards, including Curtis’.
After initially declining Fox 8′s request for an interview, Mayor Curtis sat down with Lee Zurik.
Fox 8 investigations show Ludlow, the city’s former finance director, made purchases on all five of the town’s credit cards, including one she secretly opened for herself, and spent thousands on wine, food, pet supplies, a sex toy website, vacations, and other items. Similarly, Young, a former public works employee, bought tires, rims, and other items.
Both shipped many of the items to their home addresses.
Curtis said the information was turned over to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and State legislative auditor, and that the matter is now under investigation.
“We had two people that stole from the rest of the people that live in this town. And that to me, like I said, is gut-wrenching,” Curtis said.
Curtis recounted how the misspending first came to light. While the town’s financial information was regularly audited, it was a call from Lowe’s Home Improvement store that alerted Curtis of potentially improper spending when Young, who wasn’t authorized to purchase using town credit cards, tried to buy a washer and dryer.
“The Lowe’s people called and said, ‘You have somebody here who wants to buy a washer and dryer for the town.’ I said, ‘Ain’t nobody buying a washer and dryer, what do we need that for?’ So we told them no,” Curtis said.
He said when he called Young into the office he began to learn of other purchases. Within days, Young was fired.
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Curtis said after Young was fired, he and the town clerk began looking into the town credit cards. Amid that investigation, Ludlow reportedly began acting strange. Days later, on Sept. 4, 2023, Ludlow called Curtis and asked him to meet at the town’s maintenance yard. During that conversation, Curtis said Ludlow admitted to purchasing personal items with the town’s credit card.
“She said, ‘50.’ I said, ‘50, like $50?’ She said, ‘No. $50,000.’ Well, another gut punch. I mean, I you know, I was like, holy mackerel,” Curtis said.
Curtis said Ludlow received the credit card statements for all five credit cards each month and had he and the town clerk approve the payments she made on the cards with town funds.
When asked why the large bills didn’t raise red flags with himself or the clerk, Curtis had the following response:
Dan Curtis: “You have to get the credit card statements to be able to see that.”
Lee Zurik: “But you and the clerk authorized payments for these. You didn’t see the statements, but you and the clerk authorized payments for all of this.”
Curtis: “Yes, but I can tell you there was never $34,000 on a credit card.”
Zurik: You had a $34,000 bill one month.
Curtis: “I know, I’ve never seen that. I’ve never seen that. And was that just one month? Or was that…”
Zurik: “That one month [Fox 8] showed you had one month where all credit cards combined were $60,000, that didn’t raise a red flag with anyone?”
Curtis: “Well, yeah … it did when you put it in there like that. [But] you don’t see it that way, you know, because every week there’s a folder full of things that you have to sign and checks and all those types of things and we go through them. The town clerk would go through every single one of them and look at them.”
Each year, the firm Ericksen Krentel audited Abita Springs’ books. The latest audit showed the company found nothing improper with credit card statements. Curtis said the town is under contract with Ericksen Krentel, but that he’s looking into getting out of that contract early, as he doesn’t want to use the firm again.
Curtis said even if the auditors missed the charges, he takes ultimate responsibility.
“I have to take full responsibility for that. The buck stops at me. I think the things that we had in place, are all best practices that were told by our auditors we needed to do. We did all of that. We passed all the audits,” Curtis said.
Curtis said he’s unsure how Young got access to the credit card numbers of other town employees.
Young also has multiple past felony charges. In St. Tammany Parish, he was charged with theft in 2005 and 2011, as well as bank fraud in 2012. Cutis said he was unaware of the felony charges when he hired Young.
Until the misspending came to light, Curtis thought of Ludlow and Young as family. He even wrote a letter to the St. Tammany Parish Council asking that they appoint Young to the Recreation District 11 Board of Commissioners.
He said he understands that residents are upset. He says taxpayers have a right to be angry that the spending continued for two years before it was stopped.
“I think it should bring some question in some people’s minds. And I think if they have questions, they need to come talk to me. I’d be more than happy to answer anything. I’m human. I’m no different than anybody else. Everybody makes mistakes. I made mistakes. I made two of them. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of decisions that I make up, I’ve made two,” Curtis said.
Curtis does not believe Ludlow and Young were working together, saying he believes both were separately making personal charges.
He was unable to explain a charge that showed Ludlow received an email about an order from Supply House, which was shipped to Young’s house. Documents show Ludlow also served as a notary on an affidavit for Young.
Curtis said he’s working to figure out exactly how much money was misspent and possibly recovering some of the funds.
“They need to be able to say that they’re mad, dang mad. I wouldn’t expect anything less. I’d be upset too. I am upset. I think that’s what it is that I really want to make sure everybody understands. This is deeply upsetting to me. And I’m going to do everything that I possibly can to get everything back and get it the way it was,” Curtis said.
Young was removed from the recreation board shortly after his dismissal from Abita Springs. Fox 8 reached out to him for comment but didn’t hear back.
Ludlow’s attorney told Fox 8 that she is cooperating in the investigation and denies wrongdoing.
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