CAPE CHARLES, Va. — Frustration is mounting among residents as the Town of Cape Charles continues to withhold details surrounding the alleged embezzlement and firing of a former town employee—more than a year after the Cape Charles Mirror first began asking questions.
For months, the Mirror has attempted to confirm long-circulating rumors that a staff member was terminated for financial misconduct. Town officials have acknowledged that an investigation is underway, but have offered little clarity about the nature of the allegations or the timeline for resolving them.
“We understand that these cases are sensitive, but how long does an investigation take?” the Mirror wrote in a recent inquiry to town officials. “If nothing happened, then say so. If something did, the citizens deserve to know the details.”
Emails from readers continue to pour in, with some accusing the Mirror of participating in a cover-up due to the lack of publicly available information.
Town officials have not responded to the most recent inquiry. The continuing silence has fueled speculation among residents, many of whom say the town’s lack of transparency fits into a broader pattern of questionable behavior.
The issue surfaced briefly during the Cape Charles Town Council meeting on June 18, when officials again provided few details.
“There is an external investigation,” Town Manager Rick Keuroglian told council members. “Please hold all questions related to that.” He said the matter could not be discussed publicly.
Councilman Grossman pressed for clarity on how the new town manager planned to address the alleged fraudulent transaction, including what had occurred, who was responsible, and what procedural changes would be implemented to prevent future incidents. Keuroglian said the issue was a priority and would be brought back before the council around mid-year. So far, no updates have been presented.
An audit conducted by Robinson, Farmer, Cox Associates did not disclose the amount of the questionable charges, the nature of the purchases, or the employee involved. However, the auditors concluded that the town’s oversight controls “failed to detect and prevent multiple instances of fraudulent credit card transactions.”
The report warned that the suspected fraud increased the risk of significant error in the town’s financial reporting. “There is a heightened risk of material misstatement in the financial statements due to undetected fraudulent transactions,” the audit stated.
Town Treasurer Marion Sofield first identified the suspicious activity, according to the report.
As the investigation drags on with no public explanation, residents say trust in the town’s ability—or willingness—to police itself is eroding. The Mirror says it will continue seeking documentation and answers as the community grows increasingly restless for transparency.
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Be content that its being investigated by an outside organization and not the usual ESVA shuffle behind closed doors. If there is ever going to be any criminal charges then the investigation needs to be conducted properly and not discussed with anybody outside the scope of the investigation. 30 years of Criminal investigations has taught me a few things and I don’t think the average Citizen comprehends how time consuming an investigation takes especially when you’re dealing with money transactions. Every ( possibly illegal) transaction has to be Investigated as a separate crime and that can only start after you go through every transaction line by line to determine which ones are suspect and which are not.
Now multiply that times possibly multiple suspects over multiple years and you can see the time involved including the fact that the suspect (s) had years to try and hide and cover up as much evidence as possible at the same time multiple people may have been compliant or at a minimum looked the other way or been so inept they had no idea to do their jobs and catch this sooner.
As small as this town is and as much as our greatest pastime here in CC is gossiping, keeping a strict limit on what information is out there is the best practice and anybody who has lived here longer than a week knows it.
Now once its complete do I expect it gets handed over to the Commonwealth Attorneys office for prosecution? It will absolutely not because that’s what corrupt or inept governments do, large or small in the hopes that simple peasants will either forget or be to lazy to act. It will be available for Foia though which is easy to do. If every citazen here cares enough to take three minutes to fill out the Foia request and read it and make their own opinions then you can use that information to overthrow the current City Administration and council by voting them out and Ostricizing the members involved in covering everything up from our community if of course it warrants that level of action. That’s how the Government is supossed to work as in ” We the People ” but that’s best discussed in a later opinion. I’m guessing nothing happens and most people will complain and do nothing and no criminal charges will come out of this and every body involved will still be working or in office long after this is forgotten.
I”ve been in this town for 20 years and the Good Ole Boy and Good Ole “GIRL” Networks still exists stronger than ever in the town and county! If you are in that group / community you will be protected and get special treatment, from zoning all the way to criminal law. You can get fired from your job in town for embezzlement accusations and go to work for the county government, innocent until proving guilty I guess!
We also have town counsel members that do not recuse themselves from votes that directly impact their wallets, which to me is worse than embezzlement. We have a council person that has her home for sale and plans to move out of town, but doesn’t step down from her position. Does that council person really care about the community she plans to leave and how does that determine her votes? At least former council person Andrew Follmer had the integrity to step down immediately from council when he planned to move out of town.
For such a small town to have a government with such a dirty reputation is rather disgusting. They try to cover the dirt or bruises but it just makes them look even more guilty. Covering the chained & padlocked doors at the failed Distillery is a perfect example of the town trying to hide the truth to protect its Charming reputation!
To be fair, Paul Gossman is a stand up guy. I hope he runs for mayor. Paul truly cares about the community as a whole and not just the almighty dollar!
Mr. Watson, I too was in law enforcement, and I too came to the conclusion that sometimes crime does pay…
and it”s often a group activity.