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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > August > 03
Monday, August 3, 2009
Commissioner, auditor, prosecutor, township trustee, GOP leader pulled into Dynus scandal
Former Dynus Corp. president Jim Smith told a jury in federal court this morning, Aug. 3, how he lied, forged documents, paid elected officials and concealed information from other officials to over-inflate his company’s success.
Smith said he forged the name of former West Chester Twp. administrator Dave Gully to make it look like he had a contract with the township that didn’t exist.
At the same time, he was trying to secure a deal with Butler County that he had told the bank already existed. In the process, he said he worked with former Butler County commissioner Michael Fox and former auditor Kay Rogers to conceal details of a deal between the county and company from other county officials.
Smith said he was introduced to Rogers and Fox through West Chester Twp. Trustee George Lang. Smith said he met Fox and Rogers at Jags, a restaurant owned by Lang, to discuss the necessity to hide the details of the deal from the county administrator, deputy administrator and Commissioner Charles Furmon.
“They would stop or slow down the deal,” Smith said.
For giving them access to county officials, Lang was paid $300,000, Smith said, roughly $100,000 of which was given back to Smith in a “kickback.”
Smith said the company also paid $50,000 to Scott Owens, then executive director of the Butler County Republican Party and campaign manager for both Lang and county Prosecutor Robin Piper.
The hope, Smith said, was that Owens would use his connections to get Piper to sign an opinion of counsel letter that said a deal with the county indeed existed.
Smith said he had already signed on behalf of Butler County for a $2.5 million loan from National City Bank for equipment to utilize the county’s fiber optic ring to build a telecommunications company in the county.
“Who told you to go ahead and do that, to sign for Butler County,” asked Richard Chema, assistant U.S. attorney.
“Kay Rogers,” replied Smith.
He later took out another $4 million loan from National City on the promise that he would produce the opinion of counsel letter.
The web of lies soon collapsed under its own weight, Smith said.
Permalink | Comments (15) | Post your comment | Categories: Dynus
Dynus motto: ‘Up and to the right’
Former Dynus president Jim Smith took the stand in company owner Orlando Carter’s federal court trial today, Aug. 3, describing Carter as a ruthless businessman with direct oversight of how his company was run.
Smith was ambitious, with a personal goal of retiring by age 40. He met Carter through his business dealings with West Chester Twp. Trustee George Lang, and found a mentor.
“If you want to learn to make a lot of money, you learn from somebody who has made a lot of it,” Smith said.
Smith was testifying today as part of his plea deal after pleading guilty to bank fraud for his part in the company taking out a multi-million dollar loan in Butler County’s name without county approval.
The scandal would rock Butler County, and unseat a county auditor.
Carter is fighting an 11-count indictment, including charges of bank fraud and forgery. He’s alleged to have misrepresented his income to secure a $1.2 million home, misled banks about business deals with Butler Count. He’s also accused of lying on a bankruptcy petition.
But back in 2004, it seemed there was nowhere to go but up.
“Up and to the right,” was the company’s motto, Smith said, and Carter expected each month’s revenue to exceed the month before it. Carter had Smith fire the man who introduce them because “(Carter) didn’t feel he was getting the job done.”
They spent many an evening at Jags, the restaurant owned by Lang, planning how to build their fortunes, Smith said.
“He was like a brother to me,” Smith said. “We had a lot in common, we would go different ways and tell each other we love each other.”
This contradicts Carter’s defense team, which aims to show that Carter was in the dark about the Butler County deal, and was misled by Smith about the particulars.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Dynus
Jolivette votes on jobs for son, daughter; now has challenger
In addition to covering the federal trial of Orlando Carter last week, a few items popped up regarding Butler County Commissioner Gregory Jolivette that demanded my attention.
It’ll likely be something we’ll continue to follow in the days and weeks to come.
Jolivette made two claims: First, when prompted by former county Administrator Derek Conklin about the possibility of hiring Kevin, Jolivette said he asked whether the move would be legal. Jolivette said Conklin told him that it would be OK. Par for the course, especially as of late, Conklin declined to comment.
Next, Jolivette said he didn’t read the resolution (that was right before him at the commission dais) that included the motion to hire his son and another person for the county’s summer work program.
Jolivette admitted it looked bad, and said he asked the Ohio Ethics Commission to investigate. He said last week he felt the hiring was legal, per his interpretation of Ohio law.
He also said the timing smelled fishy because an anonymous letter sent to the JournalNews came on the heels of county budget cuts, and as Jolivette put it, “some very difficult decisions.”
Jolivette routinely voted in 2004, 2005 and 2006 on payroll rosters for the county’s Job and Family Services Department, where Elizabeth Jolivette was hired in 2004. The first vote in 2004 was included in the monthly rosters of JFS, and Jolivette said he never got the information ahead of time that she was going to be included in the roster’s new hire sheet.
According to the county Auditor’s Office, Kevin Jolivette made $2,241.82 in 2005 and $4,129.66 in 2006.
Likewise, Elizabeth Jolivette made $5,214.60 in 2004, $3,312.00 in 2005 and $1,368.00 in 2006.
The news made Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper none too happy. He said Friday he would be sending all the information his office obtained from Jolivette and others onto the Ohio Ethics Commission.
Said Piper: “It appears evident that Commissioner Jolivette voted in regard to hiring a family member and voted on the pay for a family member on more than one occasion,” Piper said. “We’ll let the Ohio Ethics Commission sort it all out.”
Also on Friday, county Treasurer Nancy Nix announced that she would challenge Jolivette for the commission seat next year; to which he responded: “At a time when we’re looking for unity, this is the state of our party,” Jolivette said. “I was a big supporter of her for the job (of treasurer). I thought we were friends, but apparently politics is bigger than friendship.”
Thoughts on any of this?
