Taking over the auditing task are members of the GBI's Financial Investigative Unit, said Mike Seigler, special agent in charge of the Thomson GBI office.

"We're waiting for them to complete their audit, and then we'll meet with (District Attorney) Danny Craig to discuss the overall case. Then it will be up to the district attorney to decide what to do."

Mr. Craig said that, as a prosecutor, he cannot comment on a potential criminal indictment or whether a grand jury is considering any particular evidence. Last week Mr. Craig said he could confirm only that the special grand jury is still at work and that a regular grand jury also meets weekly in Richmond County.

At this time, no one mentioned in the grand jury report has been charged with any crime.

Gwinnett Judicial District Attorney Danny Porter said last week that some of the language in the presentment sounded like criminal accusations. The difficulty in accusing a public official of a criminal act in connection with his work is always the ability to prove intent, Mr. Porter said.

But public corruption prosecutions are not impossible.

Recently in Georgia, two former state senators were successfully prosecuted on allegations that sound similar to the special grand jury allegations.

Stacey Hydrick, now in private practice, took the lead and assisting prosecuting roles in separate cases against former state Sens. Ralph Abernathy III and Diana Harvey Johnson.

"You have to have the evidence first of all," Ms. Hydrick said of public corruption cases. In Mr. Abernathy's case, they had solid evidence such as forged documents, reimbursement requests and even a tape recording of Mr. Abernathy trying to persuade a witness to lie to investigators, but the first trial still ended in a hung jury, she said.

"In a case like that," former federal prosecutor Tom Withers said, "you have a real presumption of innocence. As a prosecutor, you have to make sure you have solid evidence that is corroborated."

Proving intent is the key for prosecutors, both Ms. Hydrick and Mr. Withers said. As with white collar crimes, the defense can counter that an act a prosecutor sees as criminal is only an error or administrative issue, Mr. Withers said.

But if a prosecutor can show a repetition of acts - and accompanying acts of lying or misrepresenting facts - that can prove intent, Mr. Withers said.

One of the most effective tools in prosecuting public corruption cases is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations laws, said Atlanta attorney John E. Floyd. As a leading expert of the RICO laws, Mr. Floyd helped in the successful prosecutions of Medical College of Georgia researchers Richard Borison and Bruce Diamond, who stole $10 million, and that of former DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey, who was convicted last week in the Dec. 15, 2000, assassination of his political rival, Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown.

"It (a RICO prosecution) brings in the criminal context; it lets the state tell the whole story," Mr. Floyd said.

In a RICO case, the prosecution can bring in evidence that reveals a pattern of conduct and the connection between acts, Mr. Floyd said.

White-collar crime and public corruption cases are the most difficult to prosecute, said David McLaughlin, assistant attorney general. Under Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, Mr. McLaughlin has handled a number of such cases, including the MCG researchers' case.

That case was a prime candidate for a RICO prosecution, Mr. McLaughlin said, because the doctors used different methods to steal.

If a case involves a simple act of theft, such as someone who pads an expense account every month, that's probably a straight theft prosecution, he said.

But someone who is creative, who uses a variety of methods to steal, makes a good candidate for a RICO prosecution, he said.

"There's a couple of unique problems in public corruption cases," Mr. McLaughlin said.

If the criminal allegation concerns something done on the job, there's the defense of "entitled," such as a sheriff who pays deputies 12 hours' pay for eight hours of work because they are underpaid to begin with, Mr. McLaughlin said.

Second, guilt can be projected onto someone else, as when a secretary or assistant is blamed for poor record keeping.

Prosecutors also have to counter allegations that a case against a public official is a political persecution.

Before a prosecutor will utter the first word, he can count on an allegation that it's "all political," Mr. McLaughlin said.