(Photo courtesy of Mohave County Sheriff's Office)

Diane Maxine Richards

Kingman wants its $1.1 million back, and the city may look to its previous auditing firm to recover cash that was reportedly stolen by a former budget analyst.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has accused Diane Richards of theft, forgery and misuse of city money from 2007 to 2015.

The Kingman City Attorney Carl Cooper wrote in an email that the city’s former auditing firm, Heinfeld, Meech & Co., P.C., failed to meet “acceptable auditing standards” when it did not identify financial discrepancies. Cooper stopped short of saying Kingman will sue the firm, but did say the city will soon address its concerns.

The firm, which has offices in Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Kingman has already filed an insurance claim to get some money back and hopes to get more through restitution, Cooper said.