A former Franklin County Sheriff’s Office detective charged with stealing money and evidence is back behind bars a midst accusations of a cabin-building scam.
LEX 18 Investigates has also learned, after Matthew Brown resigned from the sheriff’s office, he went to work as a security team leader at the Lexington Public Library. He worked there for about a year, according to library records, including several months the U.S. Attorney’s Office says he was taking money for cabins, but not building them.
Officials from the library would not speak with LEX 18 Investigates about Brown’s employment, or the alleged activity that took place while he was working there. Other library employees were involved as well, according to court documents.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
“Because it is a personnel matter we really can’t comment on that. There are legal issues going on beyond the library,” said Doug Tattershall, spokesman for the library.
In March, LEX 18 first told you about Brown’s arrest. He pleaded guilty in November to charges he stole jewelry worth $9,900 from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, which was supposed to have been booked as evidence in a criminal case.
He was allowed out of jail on bond until his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for March. Among his bond conditions was a requirement that he could not handle financial transactions of $5,000 or more. A motion to revoke Brown’s bond dug up by LEX 18 Investigates said he violated that condition, and committed state crimes.
According to court documents, Brown informed his probation officer in May he intended to work for a cabin building company, receiving a 10 percent commission for cabins sold through a Web site Brown created.
“The defendant did not advise the United States Probation Department that he had started his own business, Amish Cabin Creations, and that he would be handling substantial financial transactions, to wit, transactions involving $5,000 or more,” the document said.
The investigation was started in September, when an out-of-state customer told police he had paid Brown $7,120 for a cabin that was never built. Brown “refunded the money to the customer after the customer told the defendant he had talked with law enforcement,” the motion said.
Further investigation revealed that Brown’s close friend, and a security co-worker at the Lexington Public Library, Tim Hadden, had opened a bank account in Lexington listing “Amish Cabin Creations/Kountry Korner Cabins” as the sole proprietor. However, according to the records, Brown had access to the account and was the primary user, regularly depositing $5,000 or more he obtained from would-be customers.
Investigators also found Brown had spent more than $5,000 during that time period, including $7,918 for dental veneers, and $7,758 for a swimming pool.
He also allegedly took money from Mayslick Rentals, a company that provided financing for people who wanted to buy cabins. The U.S. Attorney’s motion said Brown created fake customer contracts to obtain thousands of dollars.
Many of the contracts contained fake names, phone numbers and addresses, and no cabins were found on the addresses listed on the contracts. Two of those who signed the fake contracts were also employees at the library, who told investigators Brown said he would sell their cabins on Craigslist once they were built, and pay them the profits.
The cabins were never built. Video obtained by investigators showed Brown cashing checks; in another case, a $5,000 check written to Hadden was cashed by Hadden, and the cash was given to Brown, the document said. LEX 18 Investigates could not reach Brown, who is in federal custody since a judge revoked his bond in November.
Hadden declined to comment. Neither Brown nor Hadden have been charged in connection with the alleged cabin scheme. LEX 18 Investigates obtained copies of Hadden and Brown’s personnel files from the library, as well as the contents of their user folders on their library computers.
Hadden, whose hard drive contained two pictures of the mini-cabins at issue in the federal investigation, resigned from the library Dec. 3, the same day LEX 18 Investigates filed the records request for his personnel file.
