Pigeon Township trustee, FBI still mum about investigation
EVANSVILLE — Mariama Wilson did not want to talk about the FBI's visit last month to the Pigeon Township Trustee's Office in Evansville, which she leads as the elected trustee.
"You'll have to talk to (township attorney Ryan Hatfield) about that," said Wilson, a Democrat who ousted Trustee Mary Hart in a party primary election in 2018.
But Hatfield wasn't there when auditors with the Indiana State Board of Accounts showed up at the township office on July 6 with FBI investigators and detectives of the Evansville Police Department in tow. He didn't talk to them or answer their questions. The attorney has said Wilson and her staff submitted to interviews and provided documents to the combined force of federal, state and local investigators without invoking their right to counsel.
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"I don't know anything," Wilson said by phone. "You'll have to talk to Ryan about that. I don't know anything either. I haven't heard anything about it either."
Wasn't Wilson the one the investigators spoke to?
And with that the line went dead. The Courier & Press called back, but Wilson didn't answer and didn't return the newspaper's message.
The FBI didn't hang up, but it provided even less information about what's going on than Wilson.
"Per policy, the FBI does not confirm or deny the existence or non-existence of investigations," said an email from Chris Bavender, the agency's spokeswoman in Indiana.
Neither Evansville police nor the State Board of Accounts has shed any light on what information their investigators were seeking from Wilson.
"I just can't comment," said Jennifer Gauger, chief of staff for the state agency, which audits state and local governmental agencies.
Gauger did confirm it's an ongoing investigation.
"Investigations do take quite a long time typically, financial investigations, so that is not uncommon," she said.
Gauger wouldn't elaborate on what "quite a long time" means, noting that the circumstances and recordkeeping involved in every investigation are different.
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And that's where it stands. The only clues about what is at issue in the investigation of Pigeon Township have come from attorney Hatfield, who also serves as House District 77's representative in the Indiana General Assembly.
"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 last month. "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.
"We anticipate authorities will find no wrongdoing," said Hatfield, a Democrat who has acknowledged he is considering running for mayor of Evansville next year.
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.
No Republican has filed to run against Wilson in this year's general election, nor did any Republican candidates file for positions on the three-member township advisory board.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Pigeon Township trustee, FBI providing few details about investigation
