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Johnson Finances UnderFBI Scrutiny

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: February 13, 2009

Updated: 02/13/2009 12:44 am

TAMPA - The FBI has opened an investigation into the financial dealings of former Hillsborough County Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson.

FBI agents visited the accounting firm Ernst & Young on Thursday and subpoenaed documents related to an audit of Johnson's office that the company released Feb. 3, said Elections Supervisor Phyllis Busansky, who defeated Johnson in the November election.

The audit was highly critical of Johnson's fiscal management of the office and concluded he violated state law by overspending his budget by nearly $1 million.

Johnson could not be reached for comment Thursday. FBI spokesman Dave Couvetier said the agency had no comment.

Ernst & Young has a contract to perform yearly audits of the county commission and departments of constitutional officers such as the elections supervisor, tax collector and sheriff.

Busansky said Ernst & Young was scheduled to begin another audit of the elections office covering the last three months of 2008, but the FBI subpoena put a stop to that.

"They can't do another audit until that investigation is completed," Busansky said.

County Commissioner Kevin White, one of Johnson's harshest critics on the board, said the FBI might have become involved because of the audit's findings that Johnson commingled federal grant money with county funds.

"I felt there could be a federal probe based on allegations in the audit, knowing how tough the feds are on commingling grant moneys with local money," White said.

Audits A 'Treasure Trove'

Former U.S. Attorney Stephen Crawford said government audits performed by outside firms are a "treasure trove" for law enforcement agencies, and a starting point for investigations.

"The audit will give areas of concern," said Crawford, a federal prosecutor in the early 1980s. "It will tell you where there are problems with the books. Where does it not match up? Were bills not paid? Where was money allocated and there was a shortfall? All those things, the audit will pinpoint."

Crawford said the FBI has jurisdiction to probe any type of wrongdoing by a public official. "There are a plethora of federal statutes they can use to charge him with a crime if they find he did something wrong," Crawford said.

The subpoena came several days after County Attorney Renee Lee, acting at the direction of county commissioners, forwarded a copy of the audit to the FBI and seven other law enforcement agencies. Commissioners, angered by the audit's conclusions, asked that the agencies follow up to see how the $1 million was spent.
Elections office records show that Johnson spent that much on a voter education program that critics said was little more than a taxpayer-financed campaign to boost his profile during his failed re-election bid in the fall. He spent federal grant money and county money on the voter education program, records show.

Johnson has said he overspent his budget keeping up with the heavy voter turnout.

No Other Subpoenas

No county offices have received subpoenas from the FBI, Lee said Thursday.

The federal probe was the latest in a series of damaging reports about financial mismanagement during Johnson's tenure.

A month after losing the election to Busansky, Johnson sent his chief deputy to ask commissioners to cover a $2.36 million budget deficit. Because of incomplete and sloppy record-keeping, a subsequent audit by the clerk of the circuit court's office was able to document just $336,000 of the deficit.

Later it was revealed that Johnson had failed to make the last payment on voting machines purchased last year, leaving Busansky to ask commissioners for more than $2 million to cover the bill.

Busansky told commissioners that Johnson had left just $300,000 in the office's operating budget out of $3 million appropriated by the commission to cover operations through Sept. 30 this year.

Johnson has been seeking meetings with county commissioners, according to an e-mail Lee sent out Thursday. Lee warned commissioners that they could become entangled in the investigation as a "a person of knowledge" if they spoke to Johnson before the probe is complete.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.

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