BROWNSVILLE – Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz said the county’s auditor is partially to blame in the case of the stolen fajitas.

Cameron County auditor Martha Galarza was appointed by the county’s state district judge in 2008. She’s been reappointed every year since.

Galarza told CHANNEL 5 NEWS in a statement:

“This is an active case presently being handled by the District Attorney's Office. In the event our office is called to testify in any criminal proceeding, the Auditor's Office has no comment at this time.”

The county’s DA said the stolen fajitas operation began nine years ago. He claimed the auditor’s job is to analyze and scrutinize all invoices submitted for payment.

He said Gilberto Escamilla, the man charged with first-degree felony theft, got the better of a broken system.

“He took advantage of and manipulated our protocols with the auditor that proved not to be sufficient to stop this kind of waste. The blame also has to be pointed at the auditor because that's her job, to monitor this and obviously she dropped the ball or else we wouldn't be having this conversation,” said Saenz.

The DA is still working to determine if anyone other than Escamilla is complicit in the crime.