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Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry has passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

Former Columbia City parks head faces nine felonies, accused of embezzlement

Whitley County Sheriff
Former Columbia City Parks Director Mark Green faces charges of corrupt business influence and other counts.

The 51-year-old former Columbia City Parks Department director faces nine felony charges and more than a year in prison, accused of embezzling more than $200,000 to fuel a side gig selling sports trading cards.

According to court documents, Mark Green put $246,295 on the Columbia City credit card at the Sports Spot, a Fort Wayne sports memorabilia shop. He then doctored invoices to conceal his activity, and sold the cards via online retailer eBay. The scheme began in May 2018 and continued until this past March, when it was discovered.

Columbia City Mayor Ryan Daniel filed Green in late March.

Whitley County Prosecutor D. J. Sigler charged Green with four counts of corrupt business influence, a level five felony; three counts of theft as a level 5 felony; one count of theft as a level 6 felony; and a level 6 felony charge of official misconduct.

Court documents say the scheme came to light after Green refused to give a copy of his budget history to a fellow employee in the parks department.

Invoices sent to the city showed transactions with a Fort Wayne memorabilia company which Green identified as “tennis and volleyball net repair.”

The owner of the memorabilia company says they only sold cards, and did not repair equipment. Initially, Green told the staff at the Sports Spot the cards were to be sold in the city parks' concession stands.

Surveillance video from the store showed Green making a number of purchases.

In March, Green told an Indiana State Police detective he was afraid to find out how much of the city’s money he had spent on the cards. He admitted to making the purchases, doctoring the invoices, and that he began to sell the cards in earnest during the pandemic when the value of the cards jumped.

The need for extra money came in part to support his son's chosen career, according to court documents.

Green told the detective he sold the last card in January 2023.

According to court documents, he made approximately $35,000 in income from the sale of the cards in 2022. Because Green was using the city’s credit cards, the purchases were exempt from sales tax.

A full audit of the Parks Department is underway by the Indiana State Board of Accounts, but it has not yet been completed.

Rebecca manages the news at WBOI. She joined the staff in December 2017, and brought with her nearly two decades of experience in print journalism, including 15 years as an award-winning reporter for the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne.