Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has launched a criminal investigation of former Florida Republican Party Chairman, Jim Greer. The investigation comes after an internal audit of the books revealed Greer funneled party contributions to a consulting company he owned.
Florida’s Attorney General, Bill McCollum who referred the matter to FDLE on March 15th following the audit, issued the following statement today:
“This information indicates there may have been criminal activity surrounding a former senior official of the Republican Party of Florida and a company called Victory Strategies, LLC,” McCollum said in a statement. ““This matter is now the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation, which precludes this office from commenting further at this time.”
The audit revealed that the consulting company, Victory Strategies, was owned by Greer who held a 60 percent interest and Delmar Johnson, Florida’s GOP former executive director, who owed the remaining 40 percent, according to news reports. Greer did authorize a contract which allowed Johnson to take a 10 percent fee on all monies realized from major fund raising activities in which he was engaged. The audit found that some $200,000 had gone to Victory Strategies in 2009.
Greer, hand-picked by Governor Charlie Crist to lead the party in 2006, was forced to step down as Chairman in January earlier this year, largely on account of numerous complaints over his lack of stewardship of party funds.
Crist said today that the news about Greer was “terribly disturbing.”
“I find it terribly disturbing to hear, but I know that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will certainly conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation,” Crist told reporters.
