I see intrepid reporter Josh Sweigart has gotten around to mentioning George Lang's name in the Dynus scandal. I've been hearing George's name tied to Dynus since BEFORE the Kay Rogers story broke, so I can't say I'm all that surprised to see a 527 media guy bring his name up now.I have to be perfectly up front here: I don't know much about Mr. Lang except for what my sources have told me...which isn't much. I don't recall having met Mr. Lang as of yet either (as Judy Shelton will attest, my memory kinda sucks at this sort of thing), but I am sure we've been at the same places and the same times in the last few months what with all of the meetings the GOP has had lately.
So, what's his level of involvement in Dynus? Josh tells that story pretty well:
In March 2005, he started as president of the now-defunct Dynus Financial services.Of course, these quotes appear to be nearly three years old...so who knows if that story still holds up today.
The same month he was hired, Lang was placed at a meeting where the loan was supposedly discussed.
“I was only there at the beginning of the meeting,” Lang said about the meeting at his Dynus Financial office in West Chester Township. “I made some introductions and I did leave early … before any significant discussion took place.”
In September 2005, he denied rumors that he pressured County Auditor Kay Rogers to sign documents assisting Dynus Technologies, a fiber optic division of Dynus Corp., to secure loans in the county’s name.
“Did I pressure her? No. I didn’t even know those documents existed until two weeks ago,” Lang said. “All I did was make introductions between Dynus and Butler County officials.”
“If someone from Dynus has acted criminally, I can assure that Dynus will deal with that individual appropriately. I welcome an FBI inquiry or investigation,” Lang said.
My advice to any Republican officeholder who was responsible for any part of this fiasco is this: resign now. For the good of the party, let's get this over with as quickly as possible. The FBI is going to get their man...you won't be escaping that. The best you can do is to minimize the damage to those around you who have served the public with integrity and honor.
UPDATE 1: Josh now reports that three former Dynus employees have been charged.
A federal grand jury returned an 11-count indictment of former Dynus owner Orlando Carter today, May 7.Are we done yet?
Carter, 42, of Mason, is charged with making false statements to secure more than $10 million in loans and lines of credit for personal real estate and the operation of his business.
The court also unsealed guilty pleas against former Dynus President James Smith and project manager Karin Verbruggen. Both pleaded guilty to bank fraud in late 2006 and Smith pleaded guilty to an unrelated count of failing to file a tax return.
