Businessman resigns as chamber’s board chairman following indictment

Isaac Culver III resigned as board chairman of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce late Wednesday, the same day that federal authorities unsealed an indictment charging him with fraud.

The chamber issued a statement Thursday announcing Culver’s resignation, saying that immediate past Chairman George Greer has been tapped to fill the vacancy through the rest of 2017.

Attempts to reach Culver and for comment were unsuccessful Thursday. His attorney declined comment.

Federal grand jurors indicted Culver, 47, of Lizella, Dave Carty, 48, of Macon and their company, Progressive Consulting Technologies Inc., alleging that they defrauded the Bibb County school district in 2012.

Culver and Carty are charged with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of unlawful activity. If convicted, they could face 20 years in prison on each charge and a possible multimillion-dollar fine.

The charges stem from the sale of 15,000 NComputing devices to the Bibb County school district in 2012. The virtual computer desktops are still sitting in a warehouse, and the school district has no plans to use them.

The indictment included many of the same allegations included in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by the school district late last year that also were part of a 2014 state investigation.

Arrested Wednesday morning, Culver and Carty pleaded not guilty in a court hearing Wednesday afternoon.

The indictment alleges that Culver, Carty and Progressive used a third party as a “pass through” for millions in wire and mail transfers to disguise that the school system was buying the devices from them. The indictment also contends that they inflated prices of the NComputing devices, support services and installation.

After the devices were delivered, the indictment alleges, they did not have key components needed to make them functional, such as monitors and keyboards.

The school district’s lawsuit alleges that Culver, his company, former school Superintendent Romain Dallemand and others participated in a series of fraudulent acts, racketeering, wire fraud and mail fraud in a scheme to sell the school district unneeded or nonexistent services and products.

This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Businessman resigns as chamber’s board chairman following indictment."