REFUGIO COUNTY, Texas — Refugio Mayor Wanda Dukes and City Secretary Callie Shreckengost have been arrested by the Texas Rangers following grand jury indictments, then released from the Refugio County Jail.
According to a Texas Ranger, a grand jury issued the indictments Tuesday, charging both women with misapplication of fiduciary property or property of a financial institution involving at least $300,000. The grand jury also issued capiases — essentially arrest warrants — and the Texas Rangers made the arrests Wednesday.
I saw Mayor Dukes leave the Refugio County Jail Wednesday.
City Attorney Thomas Gwosdz responded to the indictments.
"The city is aware of the indictments that were delivered today and we are taking steps in order to preserve the city's resources. We want to make it clear that the city believes in the principle of innocent until proven guilty and that we're not drawing any conclusions about the indictments that were delivered today," Gwosdz said.
Gwosdz said the city has scheduled a special meeting for the following Tuesday.
"However, we have called a special meeting for next week, Tuesday night, in order to take any steps necessary to preserve the city resources," he said.
The arrests come months after questions were raised about Refugio Economic Development Corporation funds. In January, the Refugio County Press reported that aldermen voted to remove Dukes from the EDC board amid allegations of a conflict of interest involving EDC funds.
The newspaper reported an EDC board member said between $600,000 and $800,000 in EDC funds had been used by the city for other purposes without approval from the city council or EDC board.
At the time, Dukes said the money wasn't transferred, but had been "borrowed" and was supposed to be replaced when FEMA money came back.
It has not yet been confirmed whether those EDC funds are the same funds referenced in the indictments.
City employees said the city secretary and city manager were unavailable when reporters went to City Hall seeking comment. The sheriff's office said it did not have information on the case because it had been passed to the Texas Rangers. Copies of the indictments were requested from the Refugio County District Clerk, but those documents were not yet available.
Reporting continues on the specific allegations against Dukes and Shreckengost, including what money is involved and what role each woman is accused of playing.
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