Auditor Fitzpatrick's ongoing audit of state purchasing cards leads to fraud charges against MoDOT employee who made $50,000 in personal charges

A former employee of the Missouri Department of Transportation now faces federal fraud charges after an ongoing audit conducted by Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick led to the discovery of approximately $50,000 in personal purchases the employee made on a state-issued credit card. Fitzpatrick said his office uncovered Artemus Jackson's misuse of state-issued purchasing cards during an audit of all state purchasing cards that was launched in February. Fitzpatrick's office then shared information with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), which subsequently led to the federal charges filed against Jackson today.

"Shortly after our audit began we were able to uncover the fraudulent purchases Artemus Jackson had gotten away with for years and quickly brought this misuse of taxpayer funds to the attention of the Missouri Department of Transportation. We were proud to take the lead in bringing this abuse of taxpayers to light and I'm happy to see the swift action of MoDOT, federal law enforcement, and the U.S. Attorney's Office to take the ball and run with it to ensure Artemus Jackson is held accountable for his actions," said Auditor Fitzpatrick.

Earlier this year, Fitzpatrick's office announced an audit of state purchasing cards in an effort to ensure the approximately $100 million in taxpayer funds being spent through the use of these cards each year was free from waste, fraud, and abuse. The audit, conducted by the Special Projects Unit within Auditor Fitzpatrick's office, is still in progress and will be released in the months to come with additional details on the purchases made by Artemus Jackson.

Artemus Jackson is a former Missouri Department of Transportation supervisor at the Normandy, Missouri maintenance facility. He was indicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with four counts of mail fraud. According to the indictment, Jackson misused state-issued credit cards from December 2022 through July 2026.

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