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Columbia turns up no misspending by fired city business recruiter [The State (Columbia, S.C.) :: ]
[April 19, 2014]

Columbia turns up no misspending by fired city business recruiter [The State (Columbia, S.C.) :: ]


(State (Columbia, SC) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) April 19--COLUMBIA , SC -- Columbia's analysis of spending by its arrested and fired business recruiter turned up no evidence of misappropriation of public money.

The city's finance department examined 70 invoices from all of the Economic Development's Department's five employees and found no problems, said Jan Alonso, Columbia's finance director.

Wayne Gregory, charged with embezzling more than $100,000 from his former employer, Georgetown County, did not have the kind of credit card in Columbia that investigators said he misused in the Lowcountry job, Alonso said. Gregory had worked for Columbia since Sept. 5.



City manager Teresa Wilson ordered the review on April 1, the day Gregory was taken to jail. Gregory's access to city computers also was severed that day, city spokeswoman Leshia Utsey said.

Gregory requested a Columbia city credit card a couple of months ago so he could book his own airline flights, Alonso said. But Columbia's spending practices require that travel be handled by a specified travel agency that is reimbursed by the finance department.


Allegations are that for 3 1/2 years during Gregory's time as Georgetown County's economic development director, he used a county purchasing card to embezzle more than $100,000, according to sheriff's investigators.

The case grew from complaints about a month before his arrest. The complaints surfaced from the Georgetown County administrator's office about a number of fraudulent purchases made by Gregory, according to investigators.

Authorities determined that between January 2010 and September 2013, when Gregory left for the Columbia job, he converted the money to his own use. He did that by getting prepaid gift cards, which he intentionally tried to disguise as legitimate purchases, according to the warrant.

Wilson named Ryan Coleman as interim economic development director.

Alonso's analysis involved reviewing purchases made by department personnel between July 1, 2013, and the day that Georgetown investigators and a SLED agent arrested Gregory in Columbia. Gregory had served as Columbia's economic development director since Sept. 5 at a $110,000 base salary.

"I looked at papers," Alonso said, explaining that her review was not merely of electronic records. "I had stacks of everything that was charged to the Economic Development Department. I looked at his expense reports, the memberships and the dues to be sure they were legitimate city charges." She said she quickly put aside purchases that required review and authorization by other city departments such as Information Technology and Support Services, which include telephone, postage and copier expenses.

Outright purchases go through various approvals, but Alonso said that almost all of the 70 invoices she scrutinized involved purchase orders.

She focused on contracts with private consultants or consulting agencies, employee training, dues, office supplies and registration fees for events.

Gregory's biggest expenditures involved payments to a local technology startup incubator and nuclear energy innovation group affiliated with the University of South Carolina's Innovista project, Alonso said. One $200 gift card caught her eye, but it was determined to be a proper expenditure intended to promote attendance at a legitimate event, she said.

Utsey said the city manager was notified Tuesday of the evaluation and is satisfied that public money has been accounted for.

"At this point in time, there have been no findings reported to me by staff regarding financial improprieties in the Economic Development Department," Wilson said in a statement. "If at any point in the future any information comes to light that would cause concerns, I would take immediate action to contact the appropriate law enforcement officials." Reach LeBlanc at (803) 771-8664.

___ (c)2014 The State (Columbia, S.C.) Visit The State (Columbia, S.C.) at www.thestate.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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