Timeline of Events Related to Theft Charges Filed Against Mont. Co. Dept. Economic Development County Employee

“Peter Bang was a career County employee. He began working for the County as a merit-protected employee on February 24, 1997 – more than 21 years ago. Beginning in July 2010 until April of 2016, Peter Bang used his position in the County Department of Economic Development, which was privatized in 2016, to divert more than $6.7 million in County monies to his private uses." 11/16/18 Press Release

The fraud was discovered after the Internal Revenue Service reviewed reports of suspicious activity made by several casinos. Bang, who had filed for bankruptcy in 2007, brought cashier’s checks to the gambling sites that ranged in size from $35,000 to $200,000, officials said, but declined to tell the casinos the source of the funds. Investigators obtained copies of the checks and traced the money to fraudulent bank accounts Bang had created, and then to Montgomery County.  Washington Post 11/16/18

During part of that time, the county government had issued procurement freezes to deal with budget shortfalls; Bang created fraudulent Procurement Freeze Exemption Requests that were submitted to the county’s Office of Management and Budget and ultimately approved. Once the money was in one of the four accounts created in the name of the Chungbuk Incubator Fund LLC, Bang used the money for his own benefit, according to the plea agreement.

 In addition to money taken directly from the county, Bang also fraudulently obtained county funds being held by the Maryland Economic Development Corporation and Scheer Partners, a private company that worked as a management agent for the county’s incubators. Between August 2010 and July 2014, MEDCO and Scheer issued nine checks to the incubator fund totaling $1,213,987.63.  In a scheme unrelated to the incubator fund, Bang also stole 21 rent payments from the Conference and Visitors Bureau of Montgomery County, which shared office space with the Department of Economic Development and paid rent to Montgomery County. Between February 2011 and April 2013, Bang directed the bureau to make 21 rent checks payable to Chungbuk Incubator Fund LLC. The payments totaled $45,585.17.  Maryland Matters

November 2008 

• Leggett snags $2M from Korean governor for business project   https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/leggett-snags-2m-from-korean-governor-for-business-project

July 2010

• Beginning in July 2010 until April of 2016, Peter Bang used his position in the County Department of Economic Development...to divert more than $6.7 million in County monies to his private uses." 11/16/18 Press Release

March 2012

• MoCo v. Fairfax, Pr. Geo. Dep'ts. of Economic Development --how are we doing?

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2012/03/moco-v-fairfax-pr-geo-depts-of-economic.html

April 2012

• Sally Sternbach became Deputy Director of DED and then Acting Director in 2015 when Steve Silverman left.

Montgomery County officials are investigating allegations by employees at the Department of Economic Development that acting director Sally Sternbach has fostered a hostile work environment marked by “persistent inappropriate and intimidating behavior.” Washington Post

December 2014

• Steve Silverman leaves as Director of Montgomery County Department of Economic Development (DED).

April 2017

• IRS alerted the County that Mr. Bang may have embezzled County funds.  As a result, the County undertook its own investigation.  Once it became clear that there was probable cause to believe that Mr. Bang had embezzled County funds, the matter was referred to the State’s Attorney. 

June 12, 2017

• Peter Bang’s employment with the County was terminated

November 2017

• The County retained an independent forensic auditing firm on November 28, 2017 to review the transactions engaged in by the former County Department of Economic Development going back 10 years. 

May 2018

• Montgomery County, Maryland Office of the County Executive Office of Internal Audit 

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/exec/Resources/Files/Internal_Control_Review_of_Procure_to_Pay_5-9-2018.pdf

July 12, 2018

• Montgomery County Council Audit Committee briefed on recent audits, including:

One report has been released since they were last before the Audit Committee in December 2017: Internal Control Review: Procure to Pay - Specific Functions (MCIA-18-1 ). 

Montgomery County Council Audit Committee is briefed on MCIA 18-1 audit done after embezzlement of DED funds was discovered. But note the word embezzlement is never used. Instead the discussion is about "specific targeted review" - "focused on some activities in the incubator program." At minute 1:13 of the video below watch as Councilmember Nancy Navarro asks vague questions about the incubator audit. Listen to the discussion.

August 29, 2018

• State Tax Lien filed for $ 22,741.87

October 25, 2018

• Stipulated Facts: United States vs. Byung Bang

Note the Stipulated Facts refers to another person involved in this investigation.  That person is referred to as Individual 1.  That person's identity is known.
https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/local/stipulated-facts-united-states-vs-byung-bang/3314/

November 6, 2018

• Montgomery County General Election

November 16, 2018

• Plea Agreement entered in U.S. District Court 

In separate federal and state court appearances Friday, Bang, 58, the former chief operating officer at the county’s now-defunct Department of Economic Development, pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and making false statements on a tax return, and to state charges of a theft scheme and misconduct in office.  Washington Post 

Bang pleaded guilty Friday afternoon in Montgomery County Circuit Court to one count of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement on a U.S. income tax return. His sentence hearing was tentatively set for March 7. Bethesda Beat