WASHINGTON - The committee in charge of running House Republican campaigns said Thursday that a former treasurer "deceived and betrayed" the group, which is missing hundreds of thousands of dollars - and possibly more - due to fraudulent acts conducted over the past several years.
The National Republican Congressional Committee told federal authorities that it overstated the amount of cash it held at the end of 2006 by nearly $1 million. A year later, the committee's annual report to the Federal Election Commission - which again was handled by the ex-treasurer - overstated the actual funds on hand by $740,000.
Republican officials said the former employee, Chris Ward, apparently "made several hundred thousand dollars in unauthorized transfers of NRCC funds to outside committees whose bank accounts he had access to" over several years. Most, if not all, of the smaller accounts were associated with GOP candidates or groups.
Ward, 39, "also appears to have made subsequent transfers of several hundred thousand dollars in funds from those outside committees to what appear to be his personal and business bank accounts," the NRCC said in a statement, which accompanied a briefing to reporters.
The statement said Ward covered his actions in part by submitting "bogus audit reports" to the NRCC's banks and/or leadership for five consecutive years starting in 2002. The fabricated audits looked authentic, and appeared to be signed by legitimate accounting firms, party spokesmen said.
The activities were discovered in late January, after Ward repeatedly made excuses to avoid showing audit information to an NRCC oversight panel. The committee ended its relationship with him on Jan. 28, when it alerted the FBI, which is investigating.
Ward's lawyer did not return a phone call seeking comment Thursday..........
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