TRUMBULL COUNTY State probe looks at invoices

The engineer said agents told him his office itself is not the target of the probe.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- State investigators are reviewing financial records for Trumbull County construction projects dating back several years as part of an ongoing investigation.
The records include invoices for the purchase of construction materials and services for the county engineer's office, Engineer John Latell confirmed.
"They assured us they were not investigating us or any employees here," Latell said Thursday.
Two agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation visited the engineer's office several times over the past few weeks to look at the documents, county officials said.
Latell said they appeared to be constructing a flowchart of how purchases were approved and ultimately paid for by the county.
Purchases for the engineer's office are approved by county commissioners. When it is time for payment to be made, the engineer's office forwards invoices to the county auditor's office, which controls the county's checkbook.
The engineer's administrator, Rocky Riviella, also said he was told his office is not the target of the probe.
"They were very, very clear this office is not included in the investigation," Riviella said. "We were not under any suspicion or anything like that."
A message left with one of the agents who visited the office was not returned.
Public record
The invoices viewed by agents are public record. Riviella would not say which company the records related to. Some of the invoices were for transactions 5 to 7 years old, he said.
Duplicates of the invoices are also on file at the county auditor's office, he said.
State investigators have been flipping though the auditor's records since questions were raised about the purchase of cleaning supplies by the county maintenance department two years ago. Former maintenance director Tony Delmont and one vendor subsequently pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to defraud the county. Several other venders have been indicted.
Auditor David Hines said he was not aware that agents also were looking at records relating to construction projects.
"They looked at a lot of records," Hines said. "What they look at, I have no idea."
siff@vindy.com