In this file photo from 2011, Jeremy Farmer is shown in his role as executive director at Just Food, 1200 E. 11th Street.

Two weeks after Just Food announced it had asked its attorney to forward findings regarding the alleged financial misconduct of the food bank’s former executive director, Jeremy Farmer, to the proper authorities, the issue of whether an investigation is underway remains unclear.

In September, Just Food board representatives told the Journal-World their own investigation of financial records found that Farmer allegedly made unauthorized payments to himself of more than $52,000 in salary and benefits over a two-year period.

The report of mismanagement came a month after Farmer abruptly resigned as the head of Just Food and as mayor of Lawrence after it came to light that more than $61,000 in federal and state payroll taxes went unpaid while Farmer served as the executive director of the food bank.

Just Food representatives said they have met with and turned information over to law enforcement officials and are cooperating with law enforcement as “they” investigate. However, Dan Watkins, Just Food’s Lawrence-based attorney, declined to identify the law enforcement entities Just Food has been in contact with.

Special Agent John Nunez of the Internal revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, the law enforcement arm of the IRS, said that because of “policy and law,” he could “neither confirm or deny” whether the IRS is conducting an investigation into Farmer’s alleged misdeeds.

Lawrence police spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley said the Lawrence Police Department is not involved in any investigation into Farmer and has not been asked to be.

“That said, should we be requested to conduct a criminal investigation in the future, we would likely request an outside law enforcement agency conduct that investigation,” he said.

Though Nunez could not reveal whether there is an IRS investigation into Farmer, Nunez said that in general, it would be the IRS’s jurisdiction to investigate “anything with federal and employment taxes.” Then, if an investigation yields results, the IRS forwards its findings to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

There could also be state or federal criminal implications in Farmer’s case related to alleged overpayments to himself. Both Kansas and federal law prohibit fraud, but it’s the circumstances of an alleged act that determines which jurisdiction prosecutes.

Jim Cross, spokesman for the Kansas District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said the “overlap” in whether state or federal officials should prosecute a case like fraud or embezzlement is “all over the place.”

“It would depend on the amount of money involved and the situation of the crime that occurred and would require a collaborative effort between local and federal authorities,” Cross said.

Cross said he could “neither confirm or deny” whether there is a federal investigation into Farmer.

The FBI media inquiry representative for Kansas did not immediately return the Journal-World’s phone calls Friday.