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“I was ethical then and I am ethical now.”
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A fraud case involving a $600,000-plus payment for synthetic turf for Courtland High School’s football field does not appear to be linked to two other thefts from Spotsylvania County government, the Virginia State Police said. “There is no evidence to suggest any of the three incidents is connected,” state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said in a prepared statement. The other two thefts involved a paycheck for a former high-ranking employee and gift card accounts. Officials have not released how much was stolen in those thefts. Geller said the thefts are a case of “cyber phishing scams” and that the investigation started Aug. 1. Phishing scams are cases in which thieves use emails or text messages to trick victims into giving them personal information, such as passwords and account numbers.
The Free Lance-Star
Costs to uncover and litigate the alleged embezzlement at the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority have risen to over $1.2 million. After exiting a closed session Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors increased the cap on what it may have to pay Sands Anderson — the law firm representing the authority in litigation regarding the alleged embezzlement at the EDA — from $500,000 to $750,000.
The Northern Virginia Daily
Tuesday’s meeting will revisit the Strasburg Town Council Code of Conduct and Ethics, which member Scott Terndrup said had not been updated or likely viewed in several years. “The Code of Conduct was originally a council pledge to our citizens to behave well on their behalf. That was 13 years ago,” he said. “There was kind of a broken trust at that time between the council and the citizens at large.” Commenting on the matter, Councilwoman Taralyn Nicholson said she took offense to Terndrup’s mentions of previous council members being unethical — in particular, council members who served in 2006. Explaining she served on council in 2006, she said, “I was ethical then and I am ethical now.” Terndrup said he also served in 2006. “At my very first meeting, half, four members, walked out of the meeting, so we could not even have a business meeting,” he said. “I sat here and listened to council members up there challenge each other to fistfights out in the parking lot. “It was the mayor, [Tim] Taylor, who came at that point and said, ‘We have to do some healing here…’ I’m saying, as a council, honestly you were kind of a laughing stock. “And so this [code] was meant to repair a sense of trust. This wasn’t aimed at, certainly, you.”
The Northern Virginia Daily
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