Former county commissioner arrested on fraud charges EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — A bank account for campaign donations to a Vanderburgh County commissioner was used to buy sports memorabilia, and some money was moved into a personal account, an Evansville police investigation found. Benjamin R. Shoulders, 45, of Evansville, in October 2023 had told Evansville Police Department’s financial crimes unit that he’d found fraudulent eBay purchases on his bank statement and he was seeking reimbursements from his bank. When he made the police report, he had been on a county commissioner for nearly seven years. “The reported fraud occurred to Shoulder’s campaign account that is listed as ‘Shoulders For Commissioner,'” said a social media post issued late Wednesday afternoon from Evansville police. As investigators looked into Shoulders’ allegations, they found money supposedly given to nonprofits had never been received. Then investigators found the eBay purchases delivered to Shoulders’ address. Police did not share in the post what sports memorabilia had been delivered to his address, but noted the purchases were “reportedly not made by Shoulders.” “Checks were also found to have been moved from the campaign account into a separate account opened by Shoulders,” the post said. In total, investigators found, about $55,000 was “misused.” Online records from Vanderburgh Circuit Court on Wednesday night showed an active arrest warrant for Shoulders, but police say he has been arrested. In the court records, he’s charged with two felony counts of filing a fraudulent report, and a felony count of fraud against a financial institution. He also was charged with the misdemeanors of false informing; commingling committee funds with personal funds; and unpermitted use of money contributions. Online court records did not show a bond amount or a scheduled court appearance for Shoulders. He was not listed on Wednesday night as being in the Vanderburgh County jail. Shoulders, a Democrat, resigned from the Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 26, and announced in a news release that he’d not be seeking reelection. He was initially elected to the board in 2016 and reelected for another four-year term in 2020.