Good to see Sen. Tony Rand got that little annoyance over the accusations of insider trading cleared up.
Nothing like an independent review of your actions by your business partner, personal accountant, Treasurer for your campaign committee and the person you put in charge of running the Department of Transportation.
The report was commissioned by the company’s Special Investigation Committee, which is headed by Lyndo Tippett, the former secretary of the N.C. Department of Transportation and Rand’s personal accountant.
Asked how the investigation could be considered independent when it was led by people so close to him, Rand said the integrity of Tippett and Terry is beyond question.”They are strong-minded, strong-willed, independent individuals,” Rand said.
The guy who took orders from you on how to run DOT for eight years is an “independent individual”?
If you believe that, you probably believe that OJ is still looking for the “real killer.”
Ok, so now Rand has more accusers than RC Soles, maybe.. . Then again, those two go way back together, but I digress. Rand now has a second accuser in the insider trading scheme at Law Enforcement Associates.
RALEIGH — A former board member at Law Enforcement Associates says state Sen. Tony Rand tried to recruit him this year to participate in an insider trading swindle. In a letter to federal regulators made public this week, Martin Perry recounts an Aug. 26 conversation during which he said Rand, chairman of the company’s board of directors, schemed to manipulate LEA stock to enrich himself and other prominent elected officials.A Fayetteville Democrat who is among the state’s most powerful politicians, Rand said Wednesday that he remembers taking Perry to lunch that day and that the two discussed ways to increase the value of LEA’s stock. Rand said that nothing in that conversation could be construed as a plan to break the law or manipulate the share price.
Trickle, trickle, trickle. . . Maybe it’s just such a common thing that he really doesn’t remember it.
Nah, say it isn’t so. . .The lead story on the WRAL website implicates the most powerful member of the Senate (Tony Rand-D, Cumberland) in an insider trading scheme.
(Paul) Feldman alleged that Rand and other politicians engaged in insider trading in 2004 and 2005 and that Rand also was involved in insider trading with First Citizens Bank stock. He said he and Marty Perry, former vice president of sales at LEA, were interviewed by the FBI and IRS in September regarding information they had provided to the U.S. attorney in Raleigh. (Feldman was president of Law Enforcement Associates for 19 years)
The most intriguing part of this story to me is the little explored part that says, “other politicians.” This would imply an extensive operation and who are those “other” folks? On the heels of the Sen RC Soles (D-Columbus) allegations and the ongoing Gov. Easley (D) investigation it would be an easy argument to win suggesting that NC is most likely the most corrupt state in the nation. How much confidence does this instill in the public? How does this further public trust? And how is it possible that the GOP hasn’t been able to win in such an environment? Here is just a simple list of additional recent convicted political figures in our state.
former Ag Secretary Meg Scott Phipps (D) served time
former Speaker of the House Jim Black (D) serving time
former NC Congressman Frank Ballance (D) serving time
son, Judge Frank Ballance Jr.(D) served time
former New Hanover representative Thomas Wright (D) serving time
former members of the NC Ferry Division appointed by Dems serving time
former NC Lottery Lobbyist Kevin Geddings, serving time
Sen. Tony Rand, who announced last week that he was stepping down from the NC Senate to become Chairman of the state’s Parole Board played a large part in reshaping the board to its current configuration.
In 2005, Rand introduced S 897 which changed the makeup of the parole board from three full-time members to one full-time chairman and two part-time associates and ended the term of the current board, requiring new members to be appointed.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously on April 13, 2005 and was later incorporated into the 2005 budget bill to be signed into law.
I guess the question becomes, is this just a coincidence or did Rand have this all planned out years ago?
Some in and out of the the media have speculated that Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand’s move from the Senate to the Parole Board was partially motivated by the significant pay increase he would receive. His Senate salary is around $17,000 per year while the Parole Board pays in excess of $100,000.
From an examination Sen. Rand’s 2008 Statement of Economic Interest (4MB), money is certainly not a concern. Sen. Rand has become a very wealthy man over the years.
By my quick analysis of the report, Rand’s net worth includes:
2 houses in Fayetteville, 1 in Raleigh
Positions of at least $10,000 in 140 different stocks, bonds or mutual funds (do the math there…)
Interests in 21 other non-publicly traded companies of $10,000 or more.
Sen. Rand is a very rich man, to say he left the General Assembly for an $80,000 pay increase is laughable.