Jun 01 2008
Are S.C. State Legislators Laundering Our Tax Dollars?
It sure sounds like that to me. The Post and Courier today broke a story today about how several of our state legislators are funneling money through state colleges and universities to then have the money transferred to some other cause, generally some kind of charity. Let’s take for example, State Representative David Mack (D-North Charleston).
In Mack’s case, he sent $300,000 to S.C. State in the 2006-07 school year and asked the university to send the money to a Columbia-based nonprofit organization called the Palmetto Center for Advocacy. The center conducts health education programs statewide, especially obesity prevention programs.
Mack sent the group another $400,000 through S.C. State in the 2007-08 school year.
Anastasia Shaw, deputy director for Palmetto Center for Advocacy, said the $700,000 from the state is the only money the group has brought in so far. But, she said, the center is “looking to diversify funding.”
According to the group’s Web site, Mack is employed as its “outreach director.” In a telephone interview, Mack said he now does consulting work for the group and previously was the organization’s interim director. He also said he is paid for all of his work with the center but declined to say how much.
When asked why he chose to send the money through the university instead of going through the state’s competitive grants program, Mack said, “We just chose that way.”
He just “chose that way” because he didn’t actually want to go through the competitive grants process and also take a chance on his request not being granted. Therefore, he cheated. He lied about where the money was going to. He had it sent to S.C. State and then used them as the bag man had them send the money somewhere else. In Mack’s case, he sent the money to a company he is employed by. Umm….. shouldn’t this man be on his way to jail right now?? Hello, SLED? Are you paying attention to this or are you only concerned when a state official snorts coke in the privacy of his own home?
Google defines money laundering as “Conduct or acts designed in whole or in part to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership or control of money.” That sounds pretty close to what’s going on behind the scenes with Mr. Mack.
Mack is not the only one. The Post and Courier uncovered several of our state lawmakers engaging in this fraud and what quite frankly to me should be illegal if it isn’t already.
Another legislator who used S.C. State as a funnel was Sen. John Matthews, D-Bowman. Matthews sent $150,000 in the 2006-07 school year and $200,000 in the 2007-08 school year through the university to the Lower Orangeburg-Upper Dorchester Community Development Corp.
Matthews said the program mostly helps low-income people in the high-poverty region prepare for and land jobs.
According to the group’s Web site, Matthews is a non-voting member of the organization’s board of directors. His wife, Geraldine Matthews, is the board’s vice chairwoman and serves on the board’s personnel, finance and overview and assessment committees.
Matthews said Wednesday that neither he nor his wife are compensated for their work with the organization. He also said that he gave up his role as a voting member of the board when he brought state money to the organization.
Here we have another politician funneling money to an organization that both he and his wife have a vested interest in and are members of. There are a few more.
The university also passed $100,000 to EngenuitySC for the National Hydrogen Association Convention, McKinney said. The university, he said, has no record of specific legislators involved in such transactions.
Kyle Michel, a lobbyist for EngenuitySC, said the money will be used to promote South Carolina, especially the Columbia region, as “a place for hydrogen fuel cell economic development” during the 2009 convention.
Neil McLean, executive director for the group, said the money came from the Legislature but no specific legislator.
Sen. Nikki G. Setzler, D-West Columbia, and Rep. Joan Brady, R-Columbia, are members of EngenuitySC’s board of trustees, he said.
–Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, sent $115,000 in the 2007-08 school year through Winthrop to the Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce to expand the Lake Wylie Small Business Center.
–Sen. John Hawkins, R-Spartanburg, sent $100,000 in the 2007-08 school year through Clemson to the Spartanburg Humane Society. Hawkins has no connection to the group other than being the state senator who represents the area, he said. He also said he would have been willing to use the state’s competitive grant program or any other funding mechanism, “but this worked.”
–Frances Marion University has funneled $187,294 to the Mount Pleasant-based Palmetto Project over the last three school years, and nearly $300,000 has been passed through the university over the past five years. John Kispert, vice president for business affairs for the university, said he is unaware of the name of the legislator associated with the money.
–Kispert said the university receives correspondence about the money from Palmetto Project Executive Director Steve Skardon. Skardon said the money has been coming from the Legislature for years, but not from a specific lawmaker. He said the money has been used for the Omega Project.
So in this last example, they don’t even know who they are getting the money from!
Are the people of South Carolina going to stand for this? This needs to have a serious investigation done into every single one of these occurrences and determine if this practice is criminal. Even if it isn’t it is most definitely a breach of ethics and that along should merit removal from office.
