Republican Party Treasurer Accused of Embezzling Millions

One of the big stories making the rounds in Republican circles these days is the alleged theft, through illegal wire transfers, of money donated to the Republican National Committee, by the man in charge, Christopher J. Ward. The matter was turned over to the FBI six weeks ago, according to an article by Paul Kane in the Washington Post, (March 14, 2008) and it appears that Ward may have diverted as much as one million dollars to defunct campaign accounts or his own private bank account(s), through the use of wire transfers.

Ward had been on the job as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee as audit committee chairman for at least five years, which now seems a bit akin to having a fox in the hen-house.

Ward had authority to wire transfer funds, the only such NRCC official so empowered without a second approval needed. After he transferred the money into accounts he controlled, which often went into a fundraising committee that was no longer active, Ward would move the money into accounts that represented his political consulting company, or into his own personal bank accounts.

Ward was fired January 28^th, after his successor, Representative Mike Conaway (R, TX), a CPA, forced the issue and turned evidence over to the FBI for investigation. Conaway had realized that the audit submitted for 2006 was bogus. It was Ward's practice to submit audits on gerrymandered letterhead from real outside accounting firms, but none of the audits were legitimate.

For five years, Ward forged audits. Not a single member of Congress, nor a single NRCC staffer ever actually met with or talked to any of the outside firms' accountants that were supposedly conducting these "audits."

Walden expressed concerns long before the whistle was blown on Ward's duplicity, but Ward would always offer excuses about why the outside auditors could not meet: a different firm was doing the audit; we're waiting for the newest audit; the auditors are too busy, etc.

Walden is quoted as saying, "It frustrated me that I could not get it done." It should be noted that Walden is not a CPA.