Auditors say an Austin Energy employee defrauded the city-owned utility of nearly $1 million over six years.
According to an investigation out this week, Mark Ybarra falsified credit card payments to contractors and pocketed $980,000 between 2017 and 2023. Ybarra resigned that year and was indicted on a first-degree felony theft charge by the Travis County district attorney in August.
Ybarra worked at the publicly owned utility since 2014. Prior to his resignation, he performed maintenance and handled third-party contracts for upkeep at Austin Energy facilities. It was in that role he was able to use credit cards to contract out maintenance work that, the city’s audit says, was fraudulent…