A leader of Mississippi’s largest city says he wants to know what happened to at least $1 million federal COVID-19 funds that have ended up missing.

Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes spoke to Jackson news sources about what he claims is the misuse of federal monies the city received during the pandemic, funds he says have not been accounted for.

In August, Jackosn Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba announced an investigation into the potential misappropriation of funds by former city employee Keyshia Sanders. Last week, Sanders’ attorney sent a letter to the mayor and city council members requesting that a hearing that would allow Sanders to clear her name over the issue.

“Your statements as well as insinuations by City Councilman Ashby Foote ‘… that there has been some mischief here in the city of Jackson’ create a false and defamatory impression about Keyshia Sanders, stigmatize her and foreclose her from other employment opportunities,” the letter stated.

Stokes said he wants to get to the bottom of what happened to the funds and allow Sanders to present what information she has to help clear up any confusion over the issue.

The missing money was supposed to be used to sanitize buildings to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Stokes said.

The councilman believes the dollars were funneled to fake companies that did not exist.