WILWOOD, Fla. — A City of Wildwood employee has been arrested and terminated following an investigation into the alleged theft of city funds, officials announced.
Wildwood police arrested Gabriella Ascione on Monday on charges of larceny and unauthorized use of a computer.
According to city officials, the charges stem from an internal investigation into discrepancies involving facility rental records and approximately $23,000 in city funds.
Ascione most recently served as the city’s parks and recreation events manager and had been employed by Wildwood since August 2023.
The investigation began after Parks and Recreation Director Courtney Kellem was alerted to irregularities in certain cash transaction records last month. City officials said Kellem worked with financial staff to review the transactions and contacted law enforcement after confirming discrepancies.
Officials said city employees cooperated fully with the investigation.
“This is difficult news to deliver,” City Manager Jason McHugh said in a statement. “When an employee betrays the trust of not only their colleagues and supervisors but the public at large, it is beyond disappointing.”
The city said it is continuing to review past transactions for additional discrepancies and plans to pursue all available options to recover missing assets.
In response to the incident, officials said they have increased financial oversight by further separating financial duties among departments and are implementing a new enterprise resource planning system with enhanced security measures.
“The City of Wildwood has zero tolerance for theft and misuse of property,” McHugh said.
The investigation remains ongoing. As with all criminal cases, Ascione is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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