Ben Shoulders, the former Vanderburgh County Commissioner, is embroiled in a scandal involving the alleged misuse of campaign funds to purchase high-value baseball cards. With purchases exceeding $41,000 on eBay, carried out through a debit card connected to his “Shoulders for Commissioner” account, Shoulders stands accused of mislabeling these transactions on his campaign finance reports.
Among the significant acquisitions were a $235 Johnny Bench rookie card and a $570 Satchel Paige card, deceitfully listed as “signs” and “banner” expenses on official campaign documents. While most of the reported expenditures seemed legitimate, suspicions were raised by the inclusion of baseball card purchases and other curious transactions, such as almost $500 spent on Pokémon cards, falsely categorized as “signs” from a local store.
The investigation was set in motion when Shoulders himself reached out to the Evansville Police Department in October 2023, reporting unauthorized activity on his campaign account. Initially claiming the loss of his debit card around April and disavowing any knowledge of the charges made between May and August, conflicting evidence emerged upon closer scrutiny. Financial records indicated Shoulders as the sole authorized user of the account with purchases continuing post his reported card loss.
A trail of email correspondence brought to light multiple eBay orders for rare baseball cards, including coveted 1965 and 1967 Mickey Mantle cards and a 1966 Willie Mays card, all directed to Shoulders’ residence and funded through his campaign account.
Further digging revealed Shoulders’ attempt to seek over $26,000 reimbursement from Old National Bank’s fraud department for the allegedly unauthorized charges, with his claim ultimately denied. Shortly after this incident, he made the decision to resign as commissioner, expressing, “It has truly been an honor to serve our great county as a public servant.”
Following his resignation, Shoulders was arrested and slapped with charges, including attempted fraud and filing a false report. He was released on a $500 bond, anticipating an upcoming court appearance. Additional discrepancies came to light concerning checks ostensibly marked as charitable contributions, which instead found their way into a business account under Shoulders’ control.
