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Harrison County commissioner indicted on fraud charges responds to allegations

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The Harrison County Commissioner indicted on four felony charges related to fraudulent reimbursements received on county-sponsored trips said the allegations are merely part of a personal dispute with another county commissioner.

Commissioners Ron Watson and Bernie Fazzini go over county business Thursday
Commissioners Ron Watson and Bernie Fazzini go over county business Thursday

“The charges recently brought against me are the continuation of [Commissioner Frank] Chunki Angotti’s three year crusade to discredit and harm me,” Bernie Fazzini said as part of a prepared statement during Thursday morning’s commission meeting. “However, I am confident that when all is said and done, people will know that i did not commit any crimes.”

(Read the full statement here.)

Fazzini was named in an indictment returned by the September term of the Harrison County grand jury Monday, charging him with three counts of falsifying documents and one count of providing false pretense “…to obtain money to which he was not entitled.”

By altering receipts, submitting fraudulent requisition forms and submitting duplicate requisition forms, the indictment alleges Fazzini violated sections 61-3-22 and 61-3-24 of state code.

The trips in question took place between 2011-2012 and were subject to similar allegations brought forward in the form of complaints to the state Ethics Commission.

(Read the indictment.)

As was similarly stated in the conciliation agreement that resolved those complaints, Fazzini said that any wrongdoing was unintentional.

“While it will soon be known that I am not the best record keeper, residents in our county can be assured that I never intended to obtain one cent worth of benefit from the county that I wasn’t entitled to receive.”

As for the upcoming appearance in court, he believed it would be a chance to clear his name.

“I look forward to a full and fair airing of all charges against me, both within the court and in the media, which will expose the intentions of my accuser and the methods and means in which he went about bringing these charges.”

The presentation to the grand jury was not done by anyone in the Harrison County Prosecutor’s Office, as Rachel Romano said that they “had nothing to do with” the proceedings.

While the activities of a grand jury are to be kept secret and the individual who presented the case has not yet identified themselves, Fazzini and Commission President Ron Watson believe it to be Angotti.

Angotti has repeatedly brought the charges before the commission while seeking Fazzini’s resignation and his evidence has previously been sent to multiple law enforcement agencies. After he was appointed to rejoin the commission in February, he made a motion to appoint a three-judge panel to seek Fazzini’s removal and when that motion failed, he began circulating a petition seeking enough voter signatures to appoint the three-judge panel.

Watson said using the “process of elimination,” it was unlike to be anyone else. However, saying that if it had to come to this, he welcomed the court proceedings as a hopeful end to the matter.

“Bernie’s done a good job in responding to every complaint that has come forward and if this is just another one, this too will pass,” he said. “Whoever brought it before the grand jury, that was their right and it’s certainly Bernie’s right to defend that.”

Angotti was not present at Thursday’s meeting, as he was on vacation.

A court date has not immediately been set as, more than likely, a special judge and prosecutor will have to be brought in to hear the case.





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