Former Clemson official charged with embezzlement

The state police announced the arrest this morning of the former finance director for the city of Clemson.  Tom Alexander Sparacino, a Central resident, was charged with embezzling more than $10 thousand during more than a 16-year period from 2001 to 2017.  In the arrest warrant narrative released by the state Law Enforcement Division, “Tom Alexander Sparacino did use credit cards issued to him by the City of Clemson for purchases and charges of a personal nature and then use City of Clemson funds to pay off the balances on the credit cards.”  The investigation started Februrary 28 when SLED agents met with City Attorney Rick Cotton and City Attorney Mary McCormac.  According to case facts released by SLED, “Because of the suspicious nature of charges , the City of Clemson hired the accounting firm of Stancil, Cooley, Estep & Stamey to complete an audit of Sparacino’s use of the city’s credit cards.  The audit completed by Stancil, Cooley, Estep, & Stamey revealed Sparacino utilized the credit cards issued to him by the City of Clemson for purchases that were personal in nature and totaled $124,748.03….Further investigation by SLED revealed that some of the charges included Vehicle repairs completed at Jaguar, Porsche, and Volvo of Greenville for vehicles registered to Sparacino….”