The former CEO of an Eastern Shore broadband non-profit has been indicted on federal bribery and embezzlement charges, court records show.
Patrick Mitchell, who was fired as chief executive officer of the Salisbury-based Maryland Broadband Cooperative in 2019, is accused of using more than $160,000 in company funds to pay for a boat and personal vacation, as well as routing money from a contract with the Navy to an unidentified Harford County-based subcontractor, who then paid for Mitchell to have work done on his home.
The 13-count indictment was returned by a grand jury Thursday. Mitchell could not be reached for comment and did not have an attorney listed in court records.
The Maryland Broadband Cooperative said it learned of the federal investigation in December 2018 and has been “cooperating fully.” The company said it retained outside counsel and subject matter experts to conduct an internal investigation and review of internal policies and procedures. They declined further comment on the accusations.
Alot of this is going on. Without checks and balances no one would know. This is why federal and local governments are so rich, no one checks them.
So, I wonder who this guy pissed off. Isn’t this kinda like normal until you piss someone off and they out you?
Local CPA firm audited the books
This is just the beginning!
“Prosecutors say Mitchell devised a scheme to defraud his cooperative through bribery, kickbacks and concealing information — using his official position to “enrich himself” by soliciting and accepting gifts, payments and other tactics.
In one instance, while the cooperative continued to receive payment from the Navy and other sources, Maryland Broadband paid an unidentified company over $467,000 in October 2016, according to documents. On the same day, prosecutors allege, that company’s owner paid the bill for a detached garage at Mitchell’s home in Cambridge.
According to the indictment, another payment from Maryland Broadband went to the company the next month. The company owner then paid for cabinets, new carpet flooring and an all-terrain vehicle for Mitchell, prosecutors say.
The undisclosed owner would also make cash or other drop offs directly to Mitchell, according to court documents.
“I’ll stop over and hide the package somewhere at the farm,” the owner texted Mitchell, according to prosecutors. “The package is in the tractor under the floor mat.”
“Thanks for the package buddy,” Mitchell would later reply.
The former CEO is also accused of using his Maryland Broadband credit card and bank account to pay for over $160,000 in personal expenses between 2016 and 2019. He falsely claimed many of his personal expenses were for “marketing,” prosecutors say.
These expenses included docking fees and maintenance for his personal boat, “Reelin Fiber,” docked at two marinas in Florida — as well as a February 2018 vacation to Costa Rica with an unidentified cooperative employee and their families, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say Mitchell and the employee would stack the trip on multiple company credit cards, while also writing a company check to cash for $2,500.
In each of these years, the indictment explains, Maryland Broadband was receiving more than $10,000 in payments from the Federal Government.
The federal government is seeking forfeiture as part of any sentence in the indictment’s multiple counts that would include any and all property derived from proceeds traceable to the crimes.”