The Office of the Washington State Auditor has published a Snoqualmie fraud investigation report for 2019-2021, when the city’s former human resources manager misappropriated nearly $46,000 in Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) funds.

According to the report, then-HR manager Amanda Bossard had access to the city’s HRA plan, which is managed by a third-party administrator. She filed 10 false reimbursement claims (two of which were rejected) under the names of six former and current Snoqualmie employees without their knowledge, according to the report. She also changed the employees’ bank information in the third-party system so the reimbursements would be deposited into her own accounts, according to the report.

“The manager received the misappropriated funds in 2021, but she had been retroactively submitting claims,” for the years 2019-2021, a spokesperson for the state auditor’s office said.

Bossard also updated her own benefits to increase her HRA eligibility from $3,000 to $6,000 for the 2020 year and submitted $11,614.98 in HRA reimbursements. According to the report, that amount is questionable because the insurance commissioner did not look into those claims, and the state auditor was unable to determine whether the claims were legitimate.

The city of Snoqualmie notified the state auditor of a potential loss of public funds on Nov. 3, 2021, as required by state law. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner reviewed the fraud first, completing its investigation in July 2023. After the state auditor’s office completed its investigation, it referred the report to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

“Related criminal charges are currently pending in the court system,” said Danna McCall, Snoqualmie’s communications coordinator and public information officer. “Out of respect for the pending criminal case, our comments on this matter are limited to the statements made by the city in the state auditor’s report.”

The insurance commissioner did not interview Bossard, but the state auditor interviewed her in January 2024.

“While she noted ‘weaknesses’ in the city’s processes related to HRA accounts, she said she would not answer specific questions about the investigation without consulting her lawyer,” according to the report. “After the interview, she told us in writing that she would no longer answer our questions related to the investigation.”

The state auditor’s fraud investigation determined that Snoqualmie’s internal controls were “inadequate for safeguarding public resources” because the city had “no independent, secondary review” of the claims.

“At a minimum, the city should ensure adequate oversight of claim payments and ensure that changes made to employee banking information are valid and properly supported,” according to the report.

Much of the city of Snoqualmie’s staff has changed since Bossard was terminated, including the mayor — current mayor Katherine Ross started in 2022. McCall said the current administration takes the report very seriously.

According to her LinkedIn, Bossard was Snoqualmie’s human resources manager from May 2020 to May 2022. However, the fraud report says the city fired her Oct. 29, 2021, after the finance department discovered the misappropriation. Bossard is still working full time as a human resources director in Washington, according to her LinkedIn.

As of press time, the Snoqualmie Valley Record has not received a response from Bossard to a request for comment.