Feds: Wanda Greene, assistant managers traveled world under contractor kickback scheme

Jennifer Bowman | The Citizen-Times

Show Caption Hide Caption The alleged kickbacks Three Buncombe County officials were indicted for, among other crimes, receiving bribes and kickbacks.

Update: The unnamed contractor in the indictment is still doing work with the county. His name is Joe Wiseman. You can read that story here.

ASHEVILLE — From trips around the world to sporting event tickets and spa treatments, three former top Buncombe County managers for years took business kickbacks in exchange for $15 million in government contracts, federal prosecutors said in a 32-count indictment Tuesday.

Former county manager Wanda Greene, 67, and assistant county managers Jon Creighton, 66, and Mandy Stone, 59, have been charged with a series of federal crimes, including aiding and abetting, conspiracy to defraud the federal government and receipt of bribes and kickbacks.

Greene additionally has been charged with six counts of tax fraud in the third federal indictment against her since federal officials launched an investigation more than a year ago.

Tuesday's indictment also comes two months after Stone abruptly retired with little explanation from county commissioners. She had succeeded Greene as county manager, holding onto the position for about a year.

Creighton, who also served as the county's planning director, retired in December.

Prosecutors also are seeking at least $400,000 through forfeiture money judgment against the former staffers.

"Greene and Creighton had the authority to award or deny the contracts that the contractor's companies had with the county," the indictment said. "They and the contractor understood and agreed that his providing these trips, gifts and favors was a necessary condition to his companies' continuing to obtain contracts with the county."

Kickbacks cited in the indictment

Among the contractor kickbacks, according to the indictment:

At least 20 domestic and international trips to Key West, Florida; Boston; Martha’s Vineyard; Maine; Phoenix; Napa Valley; Grand Canyon; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Yellowstone National Park; Vienna, Austria; Budapest, Hungary; Cartagena, Colombia; and Vancouver.

Tickets to Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders and Arizona Diamondbacks games.

A more than $600 dinner at the Brazilian steakhouse Fogo De Chao.

Nearly $1,900 at the San Francisco St. Regis Hotel’s Remede Spa.

Nearly $1,900 for Napa Valley winery tours.

More than $6,200 in wine case purchases and shipment back to North Carolina.

Prosecutors say the trio charged the county for airfare on trips that coincided with official meetings happening in the vicinity and made arrangements using an unidentified contractor's credit card information.

The trips first coincided with legitimate county business, according to the indictment. But they later were scheduled around work conferences, such as the International City/County Management Association or the National Association of Counties, to justify the travel.

By 2014, the trips "had no relationship at all to any official business," the indictment said.

Greene prepared a written list in 2015 of places she wanted to visit, a list later passed on to the unidentified contractor. She's accused of sending a text message to Creighton and Stone in 2016 that said the contractor "needs to know we love and want pool and dinner on island."

She suggested the Gulf Coast or the Bahamas, the indictment said, to "celebrate Mandy's birthday at a new place."

Creighton's wife accompanied the trio on the trips occasionally, prosecutors said , though he paid for her airfare. Creighton also at times used his own card to earn Marriott rewards points and was later reimbursed by the contractor.

While Greene and Creighton did not take several planned trips after learning of the criminal investigation, Greene and other family members did take a California vacation in August 2017. The flights were paid by the contractor, according to the indictment.

And while the trio took the kickbacks, Buncombe "unwittingly funded the briberies and kickbacks of its own officials," the indictment said, as the contractor often kept detailed internal records and subsequently tied the expenses to contracts for the county-funded projects.

Annual leave, per diem

The trio also is accused of not using paid time off and later selling back to the county annual leave "to which they were not lawfully entitled."

The indictment said that rather than using their annual leave for these trips, the staffers "submitted time records falsely claiming that they had worked a full eight or more hours for each work day (and even for some weekend days) while they were actually on these non-business vacations."

From 2011 to her retirement last summer, Greene sold more than 3,200 hours of unused leave, receiving more than $360,000, according to indictment. Stone received more than $130,000 between 2007 and her retirement this summer, while Creighton received more than $89,000 between 2011 and his retirement last December.

And while the contractor paid for the trips, Greene, Creighton and Stone still submitted per diem and expense claims for meals and over purchases such as airport parking, airline seat upgrades and baggage fees.

About the unnamed contractor

Prosecutors do not name the contractor, though they say he had three affiliated businesses that in total received more than $15 million in business from the county for consulting and engineering services.

Among the projects are the commissioning of a building and a parking deck at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College; environmental and energy improvements at the Allied Health Services Building; evaluation and design of the county landfill; and commissioning services for a new law enforcement firing range.

The indictment said Greene and Creighton instructed human resources staff to create false county identification credentials.

"One bore the contractor's photograph but Creighton's name and title, and the other bore Creighton's photograph but with the contractor's name and a false title as a county employee," the indictment said.

The contracts with the county also included a condition that gave the contractor special protections, allowing Buncombe to terminate the agreement if the contractor became disassociated with the company.

Previous charges for Wanda, Michael Greene

Greene also is accused of filing false tax returns and failing to report additional income she received through embezzlement and whole life insurance policies scheme.

She has pleaded not guilty to previous charges that stem from more than $200,000 worth of purchases using county-issued credit cards and $2.3 million spent on whole-life policies for herself and other county employees.

Her son, Michael Greene, pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to defraud the federal government. He was indicted alongside his mother in April in connection with credit card purchases.

A news release from the U.S. Attorney's office said the State Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service were involved in the case.

The investigation into corruption within Buncombe County government is ongoing, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray said.

Responses from attorney, county

"My client was not surprised by these new indictments. Wanda is cooperating with the Federal Government and will continue to do as long as required," Thomas Amburgey, one of Wanda Greene's attorneys, said Tuesday.

Creighton is represented by prominent Charlotte-based defense attorney Chris Fialko.

"My client has been forthcoming and cooperating fully with the federal investigation since January of this year, and he will continue to do so," Fialko said.

Stone's attorney, Jack Stewart, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Brownie Newman, chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, said he was reading the new indictments when a reporter called him for comment Tuesday. He said he expected commissioners will get a briefing on the charges from attorney Scott Jones at the end of their regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening.

"If proven true, these charges reflect a serious betrayal of public trust by these former county employees," he said. Newman said commissioners "will continue to do everything we can to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in this investigation."

You can read the full indictment here:

This story will be updated.

Staff writer Mark Barrett contributed to this report.