Buncombe Continues to Recoup Taxpayer Dollars With Latest Settlement

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved moving forward with a settlement that will have former County Manager Wanda Greene give $750,000 to the county. Buncombe County’s outside legal counsel representative Ron Payne says the $750,000 represents the following:

– $241,790.45 to payback Wanda Greene’s retention incentive.
– $110,950.25 for travel, meals, and other purchases associated with contractor Joe Wiseman’s company that were billed back to the county.
– $176,000 for purchases made with county credit cards, including gift cards.
– $221,259.30 for life insurance policies the county deemed were not approved through proper channels.

This latest settlement will bring the total amount of recovered taxpayer dollars to $2,878,740.40, which includes last July’s $2,088,740.40 settlement from Guardian Life Insurance Co. stemming from Greene purchasing ten whole-life insurance policies. The $2,878,740.40 also includes a $40,000 repayment from former County employee Michael Greene concerning payments the county deemed inappropriate.

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Buncombe County is free to seek recovery for any other alleged misappropriations by Greene that it might discover in the future.

The county is continuing its efforts to recover all taxpayer monies that were allegedly misappropriated through a pending civil suit against former County employees Mandy Stone, Jon Creighton, and the contractor, Joe Wiseman and his company.