WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW ORLEANS - An accountant billed New Orleans Traffic Court nearly $1.3 million dollars in less than three years.

The Times-Picayune says records and checks show that Vandale Thomas started with a one-year, $75,000 contract - but billed the city for that much within six weeks, and just kept going.

It says Thomas is not a certified public accountant. The newspaper says he kept filing vague invoices for the work, and the four Traffic Court judges kept signing the checks.

The newspaper says the court deducted most of his payments from fines and fees due the city, sending off monthly statements that rarely specified the reason for the transfers.

Thomas told the newspaper that if he'd been for specifics, he would have given them.