“I don’t know how we could have acted any faster,” said Llewellyn, who served on the board of the economic authority when McDonald’s alleged crimes occurred.

Less than a week after an independent review of the agency’s books found suspected illegal activity by McDonald, the board moved to fire her last December, Llewellyn said. McDonald — who is also facing a civil lawsuit filed by the authority — resigned from her position before that happened; she was arrested in May. She is now among several people facing felony charges in the alleged schemes.

“I don’t know how we should have known earlier,” Llewellyn said. “The accountants are supposed to do their job. Am I supposed to go and ask them if I can review their books and their auditing positions? I’m not in a position where I would understand it if I saw it.”

Local activists, who have argued that McDonald couldn’t have pulled off her alleged crimes without help from inside the county government, said Tuesday’s indictment proves there is more to investigate.

“Somebody is finally listening,” said Melanie Salins, a member of a community watchdog group called the Warren County Coalition. “It’s not every day that your entire government gets arrested. It’s so shameful.”