When was the last time you read about some public employee using his or her position to steal from the government? If you follow the news at all, I would bet it has not been long. It has gotten so bad, all government departments take out insurance to help cover employee theft.

Despite an insurance payout, the City of Beloit, Ill. stands to lose about $700,000 as a result of thefts by a former city water utility employee. This as reported in www.beloitdailynews.com.

Insurance covered about $100,000 of the $880,000 former employee Tim Kosier was convicted of stealing from the city by using city-issued credit.

The city’s risk management insurance covers up to $100,000 for employee theft per occurrence.

Kosier used his city-issued credit cards to buy tools, lawn mowers, air conditioning units and more for a side business he was running. For his efforts he will spend 3 years behind bars.

The purchases went back as far as 12 years, shortly after Kosier began working for the Water Resources Department. Kosier was a water utility maintenance supervisor in the department before he was arrested.

Initially the thefts were quite small, however, after Kosier started a residential cooling and heating business on the side that he began making larger purchases, such as lawn mowers and air conditioners.

In addition to the insurance payment the city was able to recover $25,000 to $30,000 worth of equipment including a lawn mower at Kosier’s mother’s house and additional property at a storage unit he rented in Beloit.

In addition to his jail sentence, Kosier was ordered to pay restitution to the city, and if he were to obtain a large amount of assets the city would have a right to collect on the money it lost. The court ordered Kosier to pay a minimum of $100 a month to the city. He'll also probably have to take an Illinois Theft Class.

Another sad case of a potentially decent person thrown to the dark side by greed. Another case where the public pays the price for theft and greed.