TRUMBULL COUNTY State investigators request Delmont tax records

County officials say they have no idea what investigators suspect.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
and STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- State investigators have requested tax records for indicted county maintenance director Tony Delmont, after a Vindicator story Sunday about a special account that was established for him to pay his delinquent taxes.
The agents, one from the state auditor's office and one from the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, requested records dealing with Delmont's account from the county treasurer.
"They wanted a copy of the receipt when the tax was paid and the canceled check he paid it with," said Treasurer Christ Michelakis.
They did not explain what they were looking for, he said.
The account was established in 1995 so Delmont could pay the back taxes he owed on a house in Liberty Township. Delmont had lived in the home with his wife, Lillian, but when they divorced he was ordered to pay the taxes, court records state.
David Hines, county auditor, said the account was set up because of a court order. He also said he didn't know why the investigators would be looking at it.
"I don't know why that is their business," Hines said. "I can show a court order, that's all I'm saying."
See case as unusual
Michelakis and Hines both say Delmont's is the only case they can recall in which delinquent taxes have been separated from a property because of divorce.
The account removed $6,500 in delinquent taxes from the property, a home on Keifer Road in Liberty Township, and assigned them to Delmont personally.
According to an official with the state department of taxation, there is no provision in the law for splitting the delinquency from the property. Such an arrangement isn't allowed by the state, the official said.
Delmont paid the taxes the next year, after the amount had grown with interest to $6,679. Then seven months later, Auditor Hines refunded $717 of Delmont's tax bill.
Hines says he does not remember why Delmont got the money back, though employees in the auditor's office found a record of the transaction. The only explanation is the word bankrupt. Hines was unable to elaborate.
Attorney defends Delmont
Delmont could not be reached to comment. One of his attorneys, however, said his client did nothing wrong.
"There was a tax lien, he paid it, there is no more lien," Atty. Robert Shaker said. "He paid exactly what he owed."
If he had not, the auditor's office could have recombined the accounts, so the tax bill owed by Delmont could again be held as a lien against the property owned by his ex-wife, said chief deputy auditor Adrian Biviano.
Prosecutors say Delmont, as maintenance director, bought hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of unneeded cleaning supplies in exchange for bribes from vendors.
One vendor, Barry Jacobson of Envirochemical Inc. in Bedford Heights, said in a sworn statement that Delmont said some of the bribes would be distributed to other county officials. No other county officials have been charged in the scheme.
Delmont has pleaded innocent to bribery, theft in office and money laundering. His second wife, Karen, has also pleaded innocent to a charge of money laundering. Prosecutors say she cashed checks on Delmont's behalf.
sinkovich@vindy.com siff@vindy.com