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Buncombe County took yet another step toward recouping taxpayer dollars associated with indicted, former employees. On April 16, the Board of Commissioners unanimously approved accepting two settlements totaling more than a $250,000.The move also gets back all legal fees associated with lawsuits pursuing monies from all indicted, former employees.
The first settlement is from former County Manager Mandy Stone for $171,241. The second payment is for $82,492 and is from Guardian Life Insurance. It covers all legal fees associated with reclaiming money from four former employees: Stone, Jon Creighton, Michael Greene, and Wanda Greene.
Stone’s settlement is a limited release. The County’s outside counsel Ron Payne says that means if any additional alleged misappropriations are discovered the County could also pursue reclaiming that money.
These two payments mark the third and fourth settlements the County has accepted in 2019. Earlier this year, Commissioners unanimously approved accepting $189,000 via a civil lawsuit against Creighton and a $750,000 settlement from Wanda Greene.
This brings the total amount of money recouped to just over $3,238,000. The County is also continuing its efforts to recover all taxpayer monies that were allegedly misappropriated through a pending civil suit against contractor Joe Wiseman and his company.