ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County Counselor Beth Orwick on Monday released the grand jury subpoenas related to a federal investigation of pandemic relief funds that resulted in the indictment of a county employee.
Last week, County Executive Sam Page's office denied requests to release the subpoenas from Councilmember Tim Fitch, a Republican, and Jane Dueker, a Democrat running against Page in the upcoming primary.
In a letter Page sent to Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith, Page said he would "defer" to Goldsmith's judgment, but suggested sharing those with the public could "interfere" with the investigation.
In a release accompanying the subpoenas on Monday, Orwick said she no longer believed the subpoenas needed to remain sealed "after weighing the legal and policy considerations, and following additional correspondence with the federal government."
Federal prosecutors charged Tony Weaver, one of Page's political appointees, with four counts of wire fraud last week. In the indictment, authorities quoted Weaver's private conversations with a local developer who was wearing a wire while they discussed ways to lie on applications for federal COVID-19 grant funds.
According to the indictment, Weaver repeatedly instructed the business owner to falsify information on the grant applications and discussed a scheme to split the money. Those applications were never granted.
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The subpoenas released Monday requested "any and all records" relating to COVID-19 pandemic grants or loans for 14 businesses. It did not say why the documents were being sought.
A spokesman for Page's office said five of those 14 businesses received the maximum $15,000 grant. Those five businesses were Midwestern Construction and Development, Kathy’s Bissell Lounge, The Fletcher Company LLC, Building Systems Technologies and J&L Enterprises.
The relief fund applications related to Weaver's indictment weren’t approved, federal investigators said, when the indictment was announced.
The St. Louis County small business grant program awarded $19.2 million to 1,663 businesses and was monitored by accounting firm Rubin Brown and law firm Lewis Rice. It was later audited by Deloitte to review spending to meet U.S. Treasury guidelines.
5 On Your Side has redacted the phone numbers of business owners.