Mike Wolanin | The Republic Columbus Township Trustee Ben Jackson listens to a panel discussion on homelessness in Columbus at Donner Center in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Nov. 17, 2023.
A special investigation by the Indiana State Board of Accounts has found that former Columbus Township Trustee Ben Jackson ran up $1.12 million in charges on a township credit card over an eight-year period to pay for dozens of personal trips in 10 countries, as well as retail purchases, home improvement projects, personal healthcare expenses, college tuition for his children and purchases made to an online cannabis retailer.
The State Board of Accounts (SBOA) opened a special investigation into the township’s credit card expenditures last year after being contacted by an anonymous source who alleged that Jackson had purchased first-class airline tickets for himself, his wife, Amy Jackson, and others. The board made the findings of its investigation public last week.
Jackson resigned in November amid the investigation. He had been chosen in a party caucus in 2013 to replace Fred Barkes as trustee and won his first four-year term as Columbus Township Trustee in the 2014 election.
The SBOA said the special investigation report has been forwarded to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
