Berkeley county GOP's missing funds could become criminal case

Date: 12/1/2007

BY ANDY PARAS
The Post and Courier
Saturday, December 1, 2007

MONCKS CORNER — A prosecutor and state investigator will decide next week whether to launch a criminal investigation into what happened to money missing from the Berkeley County Republican Party.

First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe said he will meet with a State Law Enforcement Division agent as early as Monday to discuss a complaint that has been filed with SLED.

The party discovered money missing from its account this summer after former Chairman Bill Wilcox bounced a check for its convention site and left it with a negative balance.

Some members of the party pushed for an audit to determine exactly how much money was missing and whether there was any criminal activity. Instead, the majority voted to accept a $1,890 check from Wilcox in hopes of resolving the issue.

At a glance

THE ISSUE: Money missing from the Berkeley County Republican Party. The party accepted a check from the former party chairman for $1,890.

THE PROBLEM: The account has not been audited and a newspaper review of the recently released records shows the party never paid $1,200 for a special primary election on April 17.

WHAT'S NEXT: Authorities will meet next week to determine if there will be a State Law Enforcement Division investigation. The State Ethics Commission will meet to discuss the party's records during the third week of January.

The county party already is under a State Ethics Commission investigation because it had not turned in quarterly finance reports since February 2003.

Facing the possibility of hefty fines, party officials submitted four years of records with the Ethics Commission on Nov. 13.

A Post and Courier review of those records shows a series of unexplained withdrawals by Wilcox. It also shows the party never paid $1,200 for the April 17 primary election for the District 2 Berkeley County Council seat.

The records show that each of the five candidates for the County Council seat paid the local party the $240 filing fee to have their names listed on the ballot, but there is no record that the local party forwarded the money to the state party, which then forwards it to the State Election Commission.

Steve Query, the county GOP treasurer who took over in May, submitted the report to the ethics commission but didn't have an explanation for why the party didn't pay for the election.

"To be honest with you, I don't have any earthly idea," Query said. "I just basically sat down and ledgered it."

Election Commission Spokesman Garry Baum checked the records for the newspaper Friday and discovered that the commission never received the money.

He said the commission failed to make sure the payment was made before putting the names on the ballot. The commission has typically depended on the parties to do so without prompting, he said.

"We expect the parties to forward the money in," he said. "It wasn't checked."

He said it's clear they need a better procedure in the future and that they've already begun rectifying this situation.

"The State Election Commission has contacted the state Republican Party to forward over the state filing fee money now that we're aware of this," Baum said.

The state party already has requested the money from the local party, said Rob Godfrey, spokesman for the state GOP.

The records show Wilcox made seven unexplained withdrawals between March 2004 and March 2007 for a total of $1,775.

He also made several other withdrawals that had a general description but not necessarily a receipt, Query said.

Query didn't know why Wilcox made withdrawals of $200 in August 2004 and $450 in April 2006 for "convention expenses." The party has its conventions in odd years, not even ones.

Wilcox has said all the money was accounted for, but he lost track of some of the receipts during several moves. He said he offered to give the party $1,890 in the interest of party unity and allowing him to move on. Wilcox did not return calls seeking comment.

He told The Post and Courier in October that he couldn't remember details about many of the transactions and declined further comment.

"I'm done with this party stuff," he said. "I'm done answering any questions."

Wilcox did not run for re-election as chairman in April after it was discovered he had at least one conviction and multiple pending charges for writing fraudulent checks for less than $500.

New Berkeley GOP Chairman Wade Arnette said the Ethics Commission is expected to meet to consider the party's financial disclosures during the third week of January. He declined to answer questions about the case until then.

Pascoe said he hopes to know by early in the week whether they will proceed with a criminal investigation. Pascoe was appointed to the case because both 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson and state Attorney General Henry McMaster passed on it, citing the potential for actual or perceived conflicts of interest, a spokesman for McMaster's office said.

Wilson, a member of the Berkeley County Republican's Women's Club, is running as a Republican next year in Berkeley and Charleston counties. McMaster served as state Republican Party chairman for 10 years.

Reach Andy Paras at 745-5891 or aparas@postandcourier.com.

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