Marion County Fair board president accused of misusing public money for home improvement

State auditors have accused the president of the Marion County Fair's board of directors of using public funds marked for the fair to repaint her house, according to a March 7 audit report.

The audit from the State Board of Accounts alleges that Cindy Mowery, who has led the Marion County Agricultural Fair Association's board since 2018, used $4,500 in taxpayer money on home improvements in 2021. The state report stemmed from a complaint by the fair's former executive director, which in 2021 was Jeremy Tevebaugh, and cites a $7,500 check dated Nov. 13, 2021.

Investigators found only $3,000 was used to paint a lodge at the fairgrounds, while the same painters admitted to also working on Mowery's home.

Meanwhile, the Marion county prosecutor's office is accusing Tevebaugh ― the same man who filed the complaint to the state agency about Mowery ― of forging a check with the same date: Nov. 13, 2021.

Mowery told IndyStar she paid for the paint job on her house with her own money, in cash. She said she gave the cash ― she doesn't recall exactly how much ― to Tevebaugh to then give to the painters, who were also doing a job at the Fairgrounds.

She didn't know Tevebaugh would write a check instead, she said.

"I am very frustrated," she said. "I don't know what the recourse is, but I will be finding out."

No criminal charges have been filed against Mowery, a well-known Republican who briefly sought the county chair GOP position in 2021. The state forwarded its findings to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office and Indiana attorney general's office.

Asset recovery and bankruptcy litigation Chief Heather Crockett said the attorney general's office received the report on March 7 and is reviewing it.

"We will take any and all actions needed to recover the funds charged," she said via email.

On March 12, county prosecutors filed a felony forgery charge against Tevebaugh, for an offense dated Nov. 13, 2021 ― the same date as the check referenced in the state's report.

The Marion County Prosecutor's Office provided a copy of a Feb. 1 Marion County Grand Jury indictment against Tevebaugh. The report accused Tevebaugh of writing a $7,500 check on Nov. 13, 2021 without the Fair Association's permission.

Tevebaugh did not respond to requests for comment Monday. His attorney in the forgery case declined to comment.

On the heels of the State Board of Accounts report, a Marion County GOP committeeman has requested the party remove Mowery as its treasurer and rescind her appointment as the Republican representative on the Marion County Voter Registration Board.

County party chair Joe Elsener said the party is reviewing the report.

"We also understand that there may be additional review, investigation and responses to come from this matter," he said.

The state's findings against Mowery

The Board of Accounts report noted that the Fair Association is a nonprofit that typically receives $100,000 annually from the City of Indianapolis.

In October 2021, Mowery, the fair's executive director and one other board member requested an additional $50,000 "for additional capital improvements needed to fairground facilities." The City-County Council approved the additional payment in May 2022.

One month later, Tevebaugh wrote the $7,500 check, which was deducted from the Fair Association's bank account.

Two painters told the board they received $3,000 to work on the fairgrounds lodge and $4,500 for several improvements to Mowery's property: Spraying mildew off of and staining a back deck, painting the siding of her home and painting the siding of another building behind her home.

Both the painters and the Fair Association had no invoice record of the work, and Mowery did not provide a receipt for the work done on her property, the report said.

The State requested Mowery repay $4,500 back to the Fair Association and reimburse it for the special investigation that led to the report, which it quoted at roughly $7,600. The total owed was $12,148.67.

The report also said the Fair Association lacked sufficient bookkeeping and oversight during the period studied, which ran from Jan. 1, 2020 until Dec. 31, 2022.

An email from Mowery to the state agency on Feb. 4, forwarded to IndyStar, shows Mowery objecting to the facts outlined in a draft report.

"I would appreciate a re-review of the information and removal of any fees or charges that have been leveled against me," she wrote. She said she never received a response.

Executive director's history

Tevebaugh has had other legal entanglements with the Fair Association.

The board sued Tevebaugh in the summer of 2022, alleging he failed to leave the property after the board fired him. In a counterclaim filed in October 2022, Tevebaugh both denied those claims and offered new accusations against the Fair Association.

Among those claims, which were later dropped, were that the association "refused to take action" when Tevebaugh informed leadership about alleged sexual harassment from Mowery, and that the association used taxpayer dollars to hire candidates for elected office or those candidates' businesses to perform services at the Fairgrounds. Tevebaugh claimed he shared with the board his concern that this constituted illegal campaign contributions.

In court filings, the Fair Association denied these claims. A Marion County judge dismissed them in June 2023.

Marion County GOP committeemen Eddie Hager, bolstered by neighbors near the Fairgrounds, nonetheless called for an audit of the fair board.

Letter to county party

Hager has continued to sound the alarm.

In an email to Elsener provided to IndyStar, Hager cited the state report.

"This report is a clear conclusion of the findings of fact that Cindy Mowery did willfully and knowingly allow Marion County grant dollars to be used toward the billing for service at her personal residence," Hager wrote," and to be paid with 'public funds' entrusted to the Board."

Hager called for Mowery's removal from party leadership and the Marion County Voter Registration Board position.

"The public trust of Cindy Mowery has been forever broken, and the GOP needs to restore such trust to the people and GOP members within Marion County," he wrote.

More: Mowery drops out of Marion County GOP race following IndyStar report

Rory Appleton is a reporter at IndyStar. Contact him at rappleton@indystar.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @RoryEHAppleton.

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Cindy Mowery accused of misusing Marion County Fair money