From Staff Reports

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 21 was cautioned by its chair, Brownie Newman, against formulating policies with language too restrictive because, he said, nobody would have imagined some of the things coming out of the current federal investigation involving former county officials.

At the regularly scheduled meeting, Larry Harris, a CPA and chair of the county’s Audit Committee, commented on Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara’s push for a forensic audit.

To that end, he recommended waiting until the two audits currently underway were completed. Forensic audits are very expensive, and they can continue for years, Harris said, adding that it would be up to the commissioners to define the depth and breadth of the endeavor.

While reiterating that beginning a third audit at this time, was not recommended, Harris said the federal investigators are still likely to uncover more crimes, and Commissioner Al Whitesides explained that the investigators were pursuing crimes, but new discoveries could open up additional areas of interest to the commissioners that fell short of prosecutable offenses.

The problem with starting before the annual audit was complete was that the third audit might introduce more delays, Harris noted. Every time the federal investigators discover an “event,” the county is having to adjust its internal controls, which the annual auditors are assessing, to protect against the newly discovered risks, he said.

The county already was almost assured of missing the Oct. 31 deadline for the annual audit, and it may not meet the Dec. 31 extension deadline. If that happens, the Securities Exchange Commission and Local Government Commission would step in and see if the county can continue selling bonds and receiving grants.

Commissioner Mike Fryar, a Republican, claimed the push for an audit is purely political. He advised waiting until a more appropriate time. 

While Beach-Ferrara, a Democrat, had called for the audit, many in the audience — and those who spoke about the matter were Republicans — accused her of using the ongoing investigation as a cause célèbre.

The federal investigation has rounded up former county leadership. According to a tally in the Asheville Citizen Times, former county manager Wanda Greene faces 105 counts of fraud, three counts of money laundering, six counts of misstatements on a tax return, and one count of receiving bribes and kickbacks. 

What’s more, both former assistant managers, Mandy Stone and Jon Creighton, have been accused of 31 counts of fraud and one count of receiving bribes and kickbacks, each. With what has been exposed to date, each could face up to 580 years in prison.

In the latest indictment, the three managers were accused of taking junkets hosted by contractor Joseph Wiseman Jr. in exchange for $15 million in work for the county. While visiting exotic places and enjoying expensive events and dining, the three allegedly billed the county for work and saved annual leave to cash it out.

Wiseman has not yet been charged with any crimes.

The three managers recently were released on a $100,000 secured bond. They cannot travel outside the federal court district, their passports have been revoked, they cannot consume alcohol, and they may not speak with county employees, past or present. 

Exceptions were granted to allow Stone and Creighton to speak with relatives who used to work for the county. Greene is allowed to speak with her son, Michael, who is a former county employee also under indictment, but she cannot speak with her sisters who still work for the county.

Meanwhile, the county has decided to sue the three managers and Wiseman. It is already suing Greene and her son.

To date, the county has recovered $2 million from the insurance company that, having been misled by the former county manager, cooperated in the insurance scam. Greene reportedly had obtained commissioner approval for purchasing the life insurance policies by misrepresenting the appropriation as going toward a wrongful imprisonment settlement.

The county is also seeking $950,000 from Greene herself for inappropriate purchases with taxpayer dollars. Greene’s son Michael is cooperating with investigators.

The county is also taking action to wash its hands of any contracts with Wiseman — $8,000 in payments due have been frozen, an existing contract has been terminated with cause, and negotiations underway for work at the county landfill have been severed. 

The county will no longer do business with any of the three companies with which Wiseman was affiliated, CDM Smith, Petra Engineering, and Environmental Infrastructure Consulting, LLC.

Interim County Manager George Wood said at the meeting that, as far as he can tell, Wiseman had fulfilled all his responsibilities under contract with the county, but more investigation was needed before a determination could be made about whether or not, for example, costs had been inflated.