Newspaper Page Text
QUICK FINDER
Business
17A
Education
18-19A
Sports
21-23A
Opinion
5A
Classified
20A
MARTA DRIVER ACCUSED
OF RAPING DISABLED
PASSENGER
LOCAL, 8A
COUNTY SET
TO DEMOLISH
BLIGHTED HOUSES
LOCAL, 9A
SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
FACES ALLEGATION OF
VIOLATING PROTOCOLS
EDUCATION, 18A
The Official Legal Organ ofDeKalb County, GA. Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.
bqI 1 The lampion
ECTION A: VOL. 24 NO. 39 MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015
thechampionnewspaper.
SECTION
ist Place
General excellence
Award winner
Georgia Press Association
‘Better Newspaper Contest’
2007, 2009-2014
500
Interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May has hired former state attorney general Mike Bowers “to root out corruption,...waste, fraud
and abuse.” Photos by Andrew Cauthen
Former DeKalb commissioner Elaine Boyer took
responsibility for her crimes during a sentencing
hearing. Courtroom rendering by artist Richard
Miller
Special investigator to
look at county corruption
by Andrew Cauthen
andrew@dekalb champ, com
A special investigator has
been appointed by interim
DeKalb County CEO Lee
May to investigate the
affairs of county govern
ment.
Former state attor
ney general Mike Bow
ers, who investigated the
Atlanta Public Schools
cheating scandal, was
picked by May “to in
vestigate the affairs,
records, expenditures
of employees and de
partments under the
authority of the CEO,”
May said in a news
conference March 18 in
Atlanta.
“It is my firm belief
that the special inves
tigator will assist in
restoring public confi
dence and trust in DeKalb County
government,” May said.
Bowers “is a man that takes no
prisoners and will do what needs
to be done to preserve the public
confidence and integrity in our
government,” May said.
Partnering with Bowers will
be Richard Hyde, a former police
officer, state attorney general’s
investigator and a member of the
Judicial Qualifications Commis
sion.
For a minimum of 120 days,
e are
is
o spend
necessary tn roo
what
nut corruption, to
dentihu,
waste, fraud and abuse
Bowers and his team will have
“total independence [and] unfet
tered access,” May said.
At the end of the investiga
tion, Bowers will deliver a report
that May and other members of
the government won’t see until it
is made public, May said.
“There will be no whitewash
ing of this report, no cover-ups,
no editing or amending of this
report,” May said. “We will let
the report speak for itself, and we
will act accordingly to root out
anything that serves
to erode the public’s
trust.”
Bowers said,
“This is, in my 41
years of practicing
law and doing these
kinds of assignments,
absolutely unprec
edented. I have never
seen anything like it.
“For a govern
mental officer to say,
‘Let’s look at my oper
ation with unfettered
access, call as you see
it, publish a report
that I don’t get to
look at until it’s pub-
lished,’—that’s high-
risk poker no matter
how you call it,” Bowers said.
The “vast majority” ofDeKalb
County employees are “honest,
decent, hardworking people,”
Bowers said. “There are some bad
apples; woe be unto you.
“But the good, decent folks,
you have nothing whatsoever to
-Lee May
Boyer
sentenced to
14 months in
prison
by Andrew Cauthen
andre w@dekalb champ, com
F ormer DeKalb County commis
sioner Elaine Boyer, who pleaded
guilty last year to federal charges
of mail fraud conspiracy and wire fraud,
has been sentenced to 14 months in
prison.
During the March 20 sentenc
ing hearing, Boyer said, “I’m deeply
ashamed. I’m very embarrassed and
humiliated. I betrayed the very [people]
who were entrusted to me. I deeply re
gret my actions.”
Boyer was accused of conspiring
between September 2009 and Novem
ber 2011 to defraud DeKalb County by
authorizing 35 payments for false in
voices “for consulting services that were
never performed,” according to federal
charges against her. She was accused of
authorizing more than $87,000 to a fi
nancial advisor, who then ‘Tunneled ap
proximately 75 percent of the money...
into Boyer’s personal bank account.”
Federal prosecutors said Boyer used
the money to pay personal expenses,
including purchases at hotels and high-
end department stores.
Sobbing as she spoke, Boyer de
scribed her “own Great Depression” of
See Corruption on page 15A
See Boyer on page 15A
64 116
1
DCHAMPIONNEWSPAPER QCHAMPIONNEWS gCHAMPIONNEWSPAPER ©CHAMPNEWSPAPER