FBI's visit to Pigeon Township trustee's office a surprise, lawyer says
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — No one involved will talk about why the FBI visited the Pigeon Township trustee's office in Evansville on Wednesday, but the township's lawyer said it was a surprise.
The Indiana State Board of Accounts, the agency that audits state and local governmental agencies, told Trustee Mariama Wilson it would appear at the township office for one of its regular audits, attorney Ryan Hatfield said.
Instead, the auditors showed up with FBI investigators and officers of the Evansville Police Department, Hatfield said. EPD spokeswoman Sgt. Anna Gray said Friday the local agency sent "several detectives within different EPD units" – including financial crimes and adult investigations units – who are all part of an FBI task force.
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Faced with this combined force of FBI officers, state financial auditors and local police detectives, Hatfield said Wilson and her staff could have invoked their right to counsel or declined to talk — but they submitted to interviews and provided documents without a lawyer present.
"The trustee has nothing to hide," said Hatfield, who also serves as a Democratic state representative for Indiana's District 77, which includes the township.
An attempt to reach Wilson at her office Friday was unsuccessful.
Gray declined to comment on the focus of the probe, saying it is an FBI investigation. Asked about the investigation, the State Board of Accounts said by email that it is "not statutorily authorized to comment on ongoing examinations." An FBI representative said by text that the agency "does not confirm or deny the existence or non-existence of investigations."
So what was it all about?
"The questions asked seemed to be so broad and so wide-ranging that, honestly, we couldn't tell you specifically what they're investigating," Hatfield said. "However, we believe, based on those interviews that the trustee's office employees voluntarily gave, that this was a fishing expedition started by a disgruntled former employee."
Hatfield would not identify the ex-employee or say whether the individual had been fired.
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"We anticipate authorities will find no wrongdoing," said Hatfield.
Township government is largely about poor relief in Pigeon, which includes all of Evansville's inner city. Township government advocates argue township poor relief can step in when help isn't forthcoming from non-profits and social services bureaucracies that work only during office hours.
Wilson defeated longtime Pigeon Township Trustee Mary E. Hart in the 2018 Democratic primary election in the heavily Democratic township. No Republican has filed to run against her, nor did any Republican candidates file for positions on the three-member township advisory board.
The deadline to fill ballot vacancies for local offices in Indiana passed July 3.
With no opponent in sight, Wilson will hold a campaign rally and fundraiser on Aug. 13 at C.K. Newsome Center. In a pre-primary campaign finance report filed on April 11, Wilson reported having received a single contribution thus far this year, $2,000 from the political committee of Democratic City Councilman Alex Burton.
Thomas B. Langhorne can be reached by email at tom.langhorne@courierpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Why was the FBI at the Pigeon Township trustee's office?
