Former BWL internal auditor will not face criminal charges

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – The man fired by the Lansing Board of Water and Light for misusing a utility credit card will not face criminal charges for his actions.

The BWL hired former Internal Auditor Frank Macciocca in April 2022. He began work at the publicly owned utility in early May 2022 with a salary of $190,000 a year. He was fired in April 2023, after months of investigation into his alleged misuse of the credit card.

Maccioca was issued a company credit card, referred to as a Purchasing Card or P-Card. He used that card until Feb. 21, 2023, to purchase thousands of dollars in what the board considered unauthorized food, travel and educational expenses.

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An investigation revealed Maccioca used the card to pay for his tuition at MSU violating the tuition reimbursement policies of the utility. The policy requires an employee to pay for tuition out of pocket, and then submit those charges for reimbursement.

The memo also points out Macciocca used the card to pay for hundreds of dollars of parking expenses and food while attending classes at MSU. Documents obtained exclusively by 6 News show the man hired to review spending for the BWL charged ratepayers $31,407.09 with a total of 243 transactions over just 8 months, including $3,561.18 for food – mostly at area restaurants. While not all of the purchases violated BWL’s policies, documents show many of them did.

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“Macciocca charged multiple meals to his P-Card when he dined alone and with his assistant,” Dusty Horwitt, then-Chair of the Board’s Finance Committee, wrote in preparation for an April 20 meeting of the Commissioners. “These expenditures were unnecessary to conduct BWL business and appear to be little more than personal expenditures. He suggested on P-Card receipts that some meals were with Commissioners when no Commissioners were present. He charged travel expenses to his P-Card multiple times without prior authorization of travel that is required by BWL rules.”

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But the Ingham County prosecutor says his office would be hard-pressed to prove that Macciocca committed a crime.

“Our office was presented with an investigative report regarding disputed business transactions,” wrote Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane in a statement to 6 News. “The assistant prosecutors who reviewed this case all came to the conclusion that this dispute was not provable as a criminal charge, although the employer may attempt to resolve it in civil court. I concur with this decision.”

With the issue back in the hands of the BWL to pursue potential civil action against Macciocca, 6 News reached out to the utility. The organization issued the following statement in response to the inquiry:

An addendum to Macciocca’s contract included a stipulation the BWL would cover educational expenses to brush up on auditing, continuing education classes to keep up his licenses and the membership and licensing fees associated with his professional work. The addendum also included $20,000 in transition costs to Lansing from Lancaster, PA where he worked as an attorney. The contract addendum also paid his professional association memberships and fees, including his bar memberships in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.

Macciocca has since returned to Pennsylvania, where he worked before coming to Lansing. He did not comment on previous stories on this topic. Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Macciocca declined to comment.

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