"I acknowledge that the material facts upon which the investigation are predicated are true." - Dennis WhitlingGiven that I live in Orange County, I don't normally pay that much attention to the happenings in Durham, which is why I didn't pick up on this little story earlier in the day.
Thanks to a note from a good friend, I can update everyone on the latest chapter in the ongoing Dennis Whitling saga.
From the
Durham section of the July 28th Herald-Sun:Attorney disbarred over fraud allegation
From staff reports
Jul 28, 2008
DURHAM -- Already under a Bull City indictment for embezzlement, attorney Dennis Alan Whitling has surrendered his law license and accepted disbarment.
A disbarment order dated July 18, but not previously made public, was issued after Whitling acknowledged in a sworn affidavit that he may have engaged in fraudulent financial transactions.
Whitling's legal woes began in February, when a Durham grand jury indicted him on allegations of stealing money from a Hillandale Road law firm.
In addition to a charge that he embezzled more than $100,000, the then-52-year-old Whitling was indicted for alleged corporate malfeasance, obtaining property by false pretenses and obstruction of justice.
Whitling was arrested but released under a $10,000 bond.
At about the same time, he resigned from a four-year stint on the Orange County school board.
Whitling is accused in the indictments of making off with money from the Durham law office of Thomas J. Stevens, where he worked from 1983 until September 2007, when he left to open his own practice.
He reportedly had maintained business accounts for the Stevens firm, issued its payroll checks and reconciled its financial statements.
Fiscal problems at the law firm became quickly apparent after Whitling departed, Durham Police Cpl. Bennie Bradley said in a court affidavit.
Accountants were summoned by Stevens and were "able to identify numerous discrepancies in Whitling's documentation of the firm's business transactions," Bradley wrote.
The accountants concluded that Whitling apparently made out 26 checks to himself in 2006 and 2007 -- 17 for amounts greater than authorized and the rest not authorized at all, according to Bradley.
In an affidavit submitted early this month to the N.C. State Bar, which oversees the conduct of lawyers, Whitling said he knew he was under investigation for "diverting to myself legal fees from an estate trust for which I was trustee."
Whitling said he was aware the investigation also encompassed allegations that he filed a false report, indicating various funds "had been disbursed to the law firm when in fact I disbursed the funds to myself.
"I acknowledge that the material facts upon which the investigation are predicated are true," Whitling wrote.
"My resignation is being submitted because I know that if charges were predicated upon the misconduct under investigation, I could not successfully defend against them," he said.
Whitling emphasized that his resignation as a lawyer was being "freely and voluntarily rendered" and was "not the result of coercion or duress."
He could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Though couched in a lawyerly tone, make no mistake, that is an admission of guilt.
I can only assume this is the first step in a plea bargain that will likely prevent Dennis from receiving the punishment he so richly deserves for breaking the trust of his employer of nearly 25 years, and of the people who elected him to represent them on the Orange County Board of Education.
I fear, once again, that it will be a case of justice denied.
16 comments:
Speechless. This man was making decisions affecting our children for four years!
Dennis needs to spend some "time" thinking about all the actions he's done the last few years. While he allegedly stole over $100,000 from Stevens law firm, he DID steal a year from the HES families by pushing his self-serving plan down our throats, and then telling everyone that we are elitists. If he's convicted, he may be spending some "time" contemplating what he needs to do with the rest of his life.
The ball is now in the School Board's court. What will they do--will they actually initiate an investigation on possible corruption during Whitling's tenure on the School Board? I, along with the other taxpayers in Orange County, deserve to know whether contracts were awarded correctly, or if there were some monkey business going on.
The school board needs to audit every request for reimbursement Dennis made while on the board and make the results public.
He has admitted stealing from his other employer, why wouldn't he steal from us?
THIEF! The Board better act on this proactively. It's the Boards fiduciary responsibility to investigate this matter. At least Dr. H will do the right thing. Ted, Debbie and Susan, 3 pawns of Dennis and Liz, cannot afford to stick their heads in the sand anymore.
The question I have for Dennis: Why would you steal? Did you at least limit your stealing to your employer, or did you include Orange County Schools as well? I'm willing to listen to you. I'll offer you this opportunity and listen to what you say, although you didn't offer such a luxury to me during the merger talks.
I deserve to know the truth. I pay taxes in Orange County, and we the taxpayers have a vested interest in our schools.
Will a guilty conviction cause Dennis to go to prison? Is this considered a state crime, or will Dennis also have to answer to the feds because he didn't report Miscellaneous Income on his tax returns?
An excerpt from the January 21, 2008 N&O article:
Ted Triebel, school board chairman, said the accusation doesn't fit the man he has worked with on the board. Triebel served as vice chairman alongside Whitling for a year and a half.
"Dennis Whitling is an honest, upright person," Triebel said. "He's done the right thing consistently day in and day out."
I wonder if Ted would like to retract this statement. Now's your chance, Ted.
Another excerpt from the N&O article:
Triebel said news of the investigation would not call for any action by the board.
"For the school board, we're going to keep our eye on the ball -- academic achievement," Triebel said. "We're going to press forward doing the business we're supposed to be doing."
How about now Ted?????? How can you expect the public to have any confidence in the Board unless the Board sticks its neck out and make some inquiries.
Just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Has anyone considered the possibility that Dennis and Shirley launched their attack on HES to divert attention from their misdeeds? Shirley could not have gotten her agenda to the boe without Dennis permitting it. We see what Dennis was trying to divert attention from. What was Shirley trying to divert attention from?
Scott
Scott,
In Shirley's case, I believe she was diverting attention because of a lack of competence and ignorance.
I always thought that Dennis was the mastermind of the operation. He had a very weak superintendent and a loveable but flaky Liz Brown to divert the attention off of his own actions.
I don't believe for a moment that Dennis did not profit immensely from his time on the School Board.
"Dennis needs to spend some "time" thinking about all the actions he's done the last few years. While he allegedly stole over $100,000 from Stevens law firm, he DID steal a year from the HES families by pushing his self-serving plan down our throats, and then telling everyone that we are elitists."
I'd rather be called an elitist than a thief. An elitist has certain freedoms that is not awarded to thiefs.
Dennis has his own "merger" plans right now--how to "emerge" from his stealing and remain a free man. The atmosphere towards white collar crime has changed in the 21st century.
As someone else said, being called an elitist doesn't sound as bad as a thief. Even worse, a caught thief that has not received his just punishment yet.
I pray that Dennis's family can deal with the humiliation of having a father/husband live such a dual life.
Arrogance is a deadly character flaw.
I would like to encourage parents to take the high road and not get down in the trenches. It is easy to be hateful to Dennis because he made us so mad and wouldn't listen to our concerns. However, if parents who are blogging can put aside their loathing of him, it might mend some fences in Hillsborough.
He is still a human and has a family to raise without an income. I wonder if he'll lose his house - who knows.
I'm not trying to be goody two shoes, just try to show a tiny bit of kindness to someone who had a lot in his favor and now it is all gone.
KS
KS,
Karma is bad, isn't it? I fully understand where you're coming from. Taking the high road would help mend some fences.
Mending fences is what Dennis needs to consider now. There is a cloud of speculation concerning his actions while on the school board. This is why the Board needs to initiate a thorough and immediate investigation on his activities to eithar (a) clear Dennis's name; or (b) uncover additional misappropriations.
KS,
We need to "mend fences" in the community? I disagree.
Mr. Whitling and his gang decided that they would appease Shirley Carraway by merging HES and CES. In the process, when some noisy HES parents got involved, Mr. Whitling starting shooting out weapons of words, calling us racist, elitist, snobbish, and lacking moral character. While he was showing the world that he had better morals than us, he was stealing from his employer. Can we say hypocrite?
Mr. Whitling is the one that needs to mend fences. Mr. Whitling is the only one who put himself in this position. It wasn't me, and it wasn't you. I hate it for his family, but again, it was a decision he made on his own. Mr. Whitling should apologize to the HES community immediately for his unforgivable actions relating to the failed merger. He needs to admit that it is Mr. Whitling, and not the HES community, that acted without class.
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