The state Workforce West Virginia office has withdrawn its application for a $900,000 federal grant that the agency sought for convicted felon Martin Bowling and his employer, Cross Lanes-based Comar Inc., state officials said Tuesday.
Read more about Workforce West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The state Workforce West Virginia office has withdrawn its application for a $900,000 federal grant that the agency sought for convicted felon Martin Bowling and his employer, Cross Lanes-based Comar Inc., state officials said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the state Legislature's Commission on Special Investigations has started an inquiry into a separate $100,000 grant that Bowling's mother, a Workforce West Virginia administrator, distributed to Comar last year.
Martin Bowling, who was Comar's chief technical officer until he was sentenced last month to three years in prison on computer fraud charges, used part of the grant money.
The West Virginia Ethics Commission has also been asked to investigate.
"We want this cleaned up as soon as possible," state Secretary of Commerce Kelley Goes said Tuesday. "You're going to have multiple parties from various points of view looking at this situation."
Workforce West Virginia previously launched an internal review that includes an audit to ensure Comar spent the federal grant money as intended.
Comar, a for-profit Internet marketing and publishing firm, received the $100,000 federal "set-aside" grant last year to train its employees. Mary Jane Bowling, a state employment programs manager, administered the grant, and her son, Martin, used some of the money to travel to conferences throughout the U.S.
Comar also used $5,000 of the grant funds to pay Martin Bowling's girlfriend, Mandi Felty, who worked as a "special advisor."
Another $5,000 in grant money went to Christine Gardner, a West Virginia State University extension agent who shares the same address as Mary Jane Bowling. Comar hired Gardner as a consultant.
Mary Jane Bowling helped to direct the federal grant money to Comar, even though Martin Bowling was under indictment at the time. The grant payments continued after Martin Bowling was convicted in November.
Goes said Workforce West Virginia and the governor's office have "taken appropriate steps to address the matter."
"We contacted the Ethics Commission as soon the matter came to our attention," said Goes, who as commerce secretary oversees Workforce West Virginia. "Since the Gazette brought this to our attention, we have been working very diligently to discover how something like this could happen and to make sure confidence is restored in this valuable grants program."
Read more about Workforce West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The state Workforce West Virginia office has withdrawn its application for a $900,000 federal grant that the agency sought for convicted felon Martin Bowling and his employer, Cross Lanes-based Comar Inc., state officials said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the state Legislature's Commission on Special Investigations has started an inquiry into a separate $100,000 grant that Bowling's mother, a Workforce West Virginia administrator, distributed to Comar last year.
Martin Bowling, who was Comar's chief technical officer until he was sentenced last month to three years in prison on computer fraud charges, used part of the grant money.
The West Virginia Ethics Commission has also been asked to investigate.
"We want this cleaned up as soon as possible," state Secretary of Commerce Kelley Goes said Tuesday. "You're going to have multiple parties from various points of view looking at this situation."
Workforce West Virginia previously launched an internal review that includes an audit to ensure Comar spent the federal grant money as intended.
Comar, a for-profit Internet marketing and publishing firm, received the $100,000 federal "set-aside" grant last year to train its employees. Mary Jane Bowling, a state employment programs manager, administered the grant, and her son, Martin, used some of the money to travel to conferences throughout the U.S.
Comar also used $5,000 of the grant funds to pay Martin Bowling's girlfriend, Mandi Felty, who worked as a "special advisor."
Another $5,000 in grant money went to Christine Gardner, a West Virginia State University extension agent who shares the same address as Mary Jane Bowling. Comar hired Gardner as a consultant.
Mary Jane Bowling helped to direct the federal grant money to Comar, even though Martin Bowling was under indictment at the time. The grant payments continued after Martin Bowling was convicted in November.
Goes said Workforce West Virginia and the governor's office have "taken appropriate steps to address the matter."
"We contacted the Ethics Commission as soon the matter came to our attention," said Goes, who as commerce secretary oversees Workforce West Virginia. "Since the Gazette brought this to our attention, we have been working very diligently to discover how something like this could happen and to make sure confidence is restored in this valuable grants program."
Theresa Kirk, director of the Ethics Commission, declined comment Tuesday, citing the agency's confidentiality rules. Commission investigations only become public if the agency finds probable cause that a public employee violated the state Ethics Act.
Goes declined to say whether Workforce West Virginia plans to take any disciplinary action against Mary Jane Bowling.
Goes gave no timeline for completing the review.
"We have taken an active interest in this because of the severity of the allegations," she said. "We've brought this to the attention of outside entities. The purpose of these grants is to fund economic development and workforce development. That's what we want to get back to."
In early February, Workforce West Virginia approached Martin Bowling about the availability of a $900,000 grant to provide technology training to more than 200 elderly workers across the state. No other businesses or nonprofits were given an opportunity to collaborate with the state on the grant.
Bowling, who also worked for Comar subsidiary, Vec3, planned to lead the project - called the "Vec3 Workforce West Virginia Senior Academy."
Bowling had been convicted of computer fraud at the time and was awaiting sentencing. He worked with his mother on the grant application, and later traded e-mails related to grant payments, records show.
In late February, Bowling and Comar Chief Executive Officer Albert Hendershot met with Goes at her office at the state Capitol. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes, Goes said.
Bowling has said that he discussed "transparency and engagement" with Goes, according to a message he posted on Twitter.com, a social networking Web site.
Goes said Tuesday that Comar and Vec3 wanted to do computer work for the Department of Commerce, but she declined the offer and referred Hendershot and Bowling to another state agency
Goes said she was unaware of Bowling's conviction until the Gazette reported it in March.
Bowling has asked a Kanawha County Circuit Court judge to reduce his sentence and place him on probation or home-confinement. A ruling is expected later this week.
In November, Bowling pleaded guilty to computer fraud charges, after admitting he stole people's names and credit cards and used them to purchase Cuban cigars, artwork, movie tickets and other merchandise.
Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com
or 304-348-4869.
A mess hangs over Workforce West Virginia, the state's employment training office. An ongoing Gazette investigation shows that a state official funneled grant money to her son's computer firm – even after the son was on his way to prison for making lavish purchases on the Internet with stolen credit card numbers.
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In determining root cause, I guess we need to ask some questions. Was the problem within the State? Absent an employee with relative connections within the State, would the company have known/applied for the grant? Did the company arbor and promote this employee/external relationship?
In determining root duress, we need to ask the intent of the grant. Was it to provide salary increases, travel and training to the employees of a for profit company? If so I question the judgment of the granting agency. The intent of the Federal allocation was to add jobs, train unemployed or some support service (DOL grant). Was the grant for other purposes? Were these missions accomplished? Again, we note the inability of the State to track, audit or monitor grants!
Legislature, want to work on something meaningful? Try passing laws that requires tracking. We would like to know when, where and for what our money is going.