LAKE PLACID — A former state Olympic Regional Development Authority financial executive was charged with grand larceny in the third degree after allegedly using ORDA credit cards to make more than $6,300 in personal purchases, mostly alcohol.

The announcement of the arrest came Thursday in a press release from the offices of state Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott and Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague Thursday.

Padraig Power, 34, of Lake Placid was ORDA’s chief financial officer for more than five years before Peggy Evatt replaced him in spring 2017. During those years, authorities say, Power used state-issued credit cards to purchase thousands of dollars’ worth of alcoholic beverages at bars and restaurants, according to the press release. This is a felony. State policy prohibits the use of government-issued credit cards for personal benefit and specifically exempts the purchase of alcoholic beverages as a reimbursable expense.

Power was also charged with official misconduct, a misdemeanor. He was arraigned in the Lake Placid Village Court, was released and is due back for an appearance Aug. 16.

“This former top ORDA official’s wanton disregard of the public trust and even the most basic guidelines were nothing short of unabashed hubris,” Leahy Scott said in the press release. “For years, this defendant allegedly used taxpayer funds to subsidize exorbitant bar tabs and other improper personal expenses, undermining his own role as an internal control officer, and undermining what should have been a commitment to integrity and public service.”

In a phone interview, ORDA Communications Manager Jon Lundin said an internal audit of the authority’s finances found irregularities.

“We then referred those findings to the inspector general’s office,” he said. “Power is no longer an employee with us.”

Lundin said he couldn’t comment further on the investigation.

ORDA board Chairman J. Patrick Barrett also said he was unable to comment on the investigation. He said he didn’t know Power too well.

“I had very little if any contact with [Power],” Barrett said. “We’d work together at board meetings, but Power worked directly under [former ORDA CEO] Ted Blazer.”

Blazer couldn’t be reach immediately for comment.

Since leaving ORDA, Power has worked at the Whiteface Lodge in Lake Placid as the financial controller for the past 11 months, according to his LinkdIn page. He took the position shortly before the previous financial controller, Morgan B. Miller, was charged with grand larceny for embezzling more than $135,000 from the business. Miller pleaded guilty to the charges last week, July 16. Power’s LinkedIn says he is currently employed there. Whiteface Lodge General Manager Shawn Goodway could not be reached immediately for comment.

NYSIG Special Deputy for Communication and External Affairs John Milgrim said in a phone interview that the office won’t comment on specific matters of the investigation other than what’s in the press release.

“This ORDA official’s alleged conduct seemed to derive from a mindset where everybody else’s rules simply did not apply to him,” Sprague, the Essex County DA, said in the release. “ORDA is an important state agency meant to oversee Olympic and winter sporting assets that are critical to Essex County, and I thank Inspector General Leahy Scott for her work in holding this former top executive accountable and bringing this case to fruition.”

Sprague could not be reached immediately for additional information and comments.