By Tom Jackman
It was October 2013 when a
personnel shift in the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office uncovered a troubling
situation: A detective involved with asset forfeiture had allegedly embezzled
more than $200,000, two sources close to the situation said.
Loudoun Sheriff Mike Chapman
called in the Virginia State Police to investigate. The deputy was placed on
administrative leave. In June, the state police asked the FBI to join them in
working the case.
But a year after the discovery,
no charges have been filed. Officials with the state police, the FBI and the
U.S. attorney’s office in Alexandria all declined to comment Thursday. The
state police confirmed that they were working jointly with the FBI, but had no
other information about the case’s progress.
Chapman said he was frustrated
by the delay, did not know why the case had taken a year to investigate and did
not want the cloud of a federal probe continuing to hang over his office. “I
would’ve liked this thing to be over a long time ago,” the sheriff, a former
federal investigator with the Drug Enforcement Administration, said.
The case is the second local
investigation of a law enforcement member to encounter a long delay upon
entering the federal system. A Fairfax County police officer’s fatal shooting
of John Geer in Springfield in August 2013, shifted to federal authorities in
February, also has not been charged or cleared after 14 months.
Chapman said he had undertaken
a routine shakeup of the ranks last fall, to allow deputies to work in new
roles, when newly assigned investigators uncovered the missing money last
October. One source familiar with the investigation said the embezzlement had
begun in 2009 under Chapman’s predecessor, former Sheriff Steve Simpson, and
involved small amounts withdrawn over time.
Chapman said he asked the state
police to investigate because “I wanted to make sure we had an independent
investigation, so it wouldn’t just be our eyes on it.” That was begun in
mid-October. The Bull Elephant political blog first revealed the investigation
in November, and Chapman and state police then confirmed it.
The deputy was initially placed
on leave, but Chapman said he resigned in April after an internal
investigation. His name has not been released pending a decision on charges.
Chapman did not know if the deputy would be eligible to collect retirement
benefits from the county.
