Crime & Public Safety
Former GBI official misused state purchasing card in plain sight
The GBI confiscated dozens of items from the home of Sandra Putnam, a former supervisor accused of illegally using her purchase card.
Former inspector Sandra Putnam had a long, successful history at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and had earned the trust of her superiors.
That’s part of the reason she was able to spend tens of thousands of dollars on herself and her friends, using a purchasing card paid for with taxpayer dollars.
According to records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, her spending spree was blatant and included fraudulent receipts and changing reports to show items ordered online were delivered to the GBI headquarters in Decatur and not to her home in Covington.
Putnam pleaded guilty in December but questions linger about why her bosses didn’t catch on sooner.
