“Shocked” Whitby resigns; Industrial Authority’s annual audit underway
Cliffard Whitby has stepped down as chairman of the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority following his indictment in a bribery investigation.
Whitby’s resignation came soon after a federal indictment charged him with multiple counts of conspiracy and bribery related to a probe of a former Bibb County community initiative.
In a resignation letter sent Saturday to the Industrial Authority, Whitby said he was “shocked by the terrible and unexpected allegations” made against him by federal prosecutors. He said he was resigning because of the negative impact the case could have on the authority.
“I have been humbled by the outpour of the affection and support from the Authority members, community members, family and friends,” Whitby said in the letter. “I am determined to fight these allegations and maintain faith in the legal process that my record will show that I have always acted in a manner to better the community.”
Industrial Authority attorney Kevin Brown said Monday that federal authorities have not contacted the authority as part of Whitby’s case. The authority is also going through its annual audit.
Last month, Whitby’s name was first publicly linked to the case by a subpoena in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by the Bibb County school system against former school Superintendent Romain Dallemand; Isaac Culver III and his company, Progressive Consulting Technologies Inc.; former school technology director Tom Tourand; CompTech Computer Technologies Inc. and its president and CEO, Allen J. Stephen; and Pinnacle/CSG Inc., and its president, Cory McFarlane.
The suit alleges that the defendants participated in a series of fraudulent acts stemming from a 2012 technology sale to the district.
Though Whitby was not named in the lawsuit, the school system subpoenaed bank records for Whitby, his construction company, Whitby Inc., and others.
An attorney for one of the companies subpoenaed, Integrated Technology Consulting, argued at a July court hearing that a judge should quash the subpoena for the Maryland-registered company’s bank records.
Documents pertaining to a $276,000 check that Progressive Consulting Technologies wrote to Integrated on Nov. 6, 2012, were included in a motion filed Monday asking the judge to throw out a second subpoena dated Aug. 3. It seeks banking and other records pertaining to Culver, Culver’s business partner, Dave Carty, Dallemand, Progressive Consulting, Progressive Property Management LLC, and Whitby.
The check was dated a little more than a month before the school district alleges that Dallemand, Tourand, Progressive and Culver demanded that a school district employee wire $3.7 million to Ohio-based CompTech.
The district contends that CompTech then wired the majority of the money back to Progressive, which then paid “substantially less” than what it received to another company to buy 15,000 NComputing devices — virtual desktop computers — that remain inoperable to this day, delivered without the necessary components to make them functional.
Culver, Carty and Progressive Consulting were indicted this summer on fraud charges stemming from the sale.
Documents filed Monday show that Integrated issued a $155,000 check to Posiventures LLC, a company owned by Whitby, on Nov. 6, 2012, the same day it received the check from Progressive, and another $150,000 check to Posiventures on Dec. 26, 2013.
Kirk Watkins, Integrated’s attorney, argued in July that his client — an investment firm — had agreed to hold money for a business venture with Progressive and another party, but quickly decided to back out of the deal.
Documents filed Monday show that Whitby Inc. — Cliffard Whitby’s construction company, Progressive Property Management LLC, Carty, Culver and Integrated and its owner, Tyrone Lewis, a Bibb County resident, were involved in a deal to buy and develop property at 580 Cherry St. in downtown Macon , but Lewis and Integrated opted out of the deal.
Bibb County Tax Assessor’s Office records show Whitby Inc. owns the property.
Court documents show that $250,000 from the 580 Cherry St. venture was wired from an Atlanta attorney on July 11, 2017, to lawyers representing Culver and Carty in their criminal cases.
Federal prosecutors allege that Whitby paid a total of $434,000 to bribe Dallemand into supporting the Macon Promise Neighborhood plan, which aimed to help students and their families in the Unionville and Tindall Heights neighborhoods.
Dallemand has agreed to work with federal authorities in the case after pleading guilty in Florida on Wednesday to filing a false tax return for 2012, under-reporting his income and over-reporting his itemized deductions.
Whitby, meanwhile, faces charges of conspiracy to pay a bribe to an agent of an organization receiving federal funds, conspiracy to launder the proceeds of unlawful activity, and five counts of paying a bribe to an agent of an organization receiving federal funds.
The indictment alleges that Dallemand accepted $100,000 from Whitby for Dallemand’s backing of the Promise Neighborhood program and that Whitby also pledged $100,000 every year over a 10-year period for Dallemand’s “continued support.”
That deal hinged on the Bibb school district’s contributing $1 million each year to the program, according to federal documents.
Shortly after the U.S. Attorney’s Office released details about Whitby’s indictment last week, the Industrial Authority sent out a statement saying the case was not related to its business.
The authority also named its vice chairman, Robbie Fountain, as acting chairman.
The Industrial Authority is working “to make sure all matters are reviewed in-depth” while it undergoes its annual audit performed by the Macon firm Clifton, Lipford, Hardison & Parker, Brown said.
He declined to comment on whether officials of any Bibb County companies — or any that may be coming to Macon-Bibb — have contacted the Industrial Authority with any concerns about Whitby’s troubles.
“The Industrial Authority is continuing business and making sure we give all of our corporate citizens the confidence that the Industrial Authority will help them succeed,” Brown said.
Fountain echoed Brown’s sentiments that one person won’t prevent the six-member authority board from continuing its mission.
“It’s business as usual with the authority,” he said Monday afternoon. “We remain confident in our ability to do the work” needed to support and attract companies.
This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 6:14 PM with the headline "“Shocked” Whitby resigns; Industrial Authority’s annual audit underway."