By Kathy Barks Hoffman
Associated Press Writer
LANSING (AP) -- An embezzler who was on parole when he temporarily snagged about $9 million in business tax credits from the state of Michigan was arraigned Monday on three new felony charges.
Richard A. Short was arraigned in Genesee County Circuit Court in Flint on charges of racketeering, fraud over $20,000 and attempted fraud, all tied to his efforts to get the tax credit. If convicted of racketeering, the most serious charge, he could face fines and up to 20 years in prison.
His attorney, Chris Christenson, said he hadn't seen the newest charges against Short, who's already in Genesee County Jail on $1 million bond awaiting trial on charges of defrauding an 86-year-old neighbor with dementia.
"It will be interesting to see the proofs" the prosecution brings in the tax credit trial, Christenson said.
Short was arrested in mid-March a day after sharing the stage with Gov. Jennifer Granholm as she announced his company would get $9.1 million in tax credits for setting up its headquarters in Flint. RASCO and Short, the chief executive officer, got the grant after saying they planned to improve the lives of poor people overseas by using renewable energy to provide electricity, clean drinking water, sanitation and telephone and Internet service.
Short's ability to get a business tax credit for a company he apparently cooked up on his home computer in a trailer park deeply embarrassed the state's economic development officials. His prison record and the fact that he was on parole was easily accessible in the state's searchable offender tracking database posted on the Internet.
Officials at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. said they never conducted a background check on Short.
They also failed to check his other paperwork, including an apparently fake letter Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said Short wrote showing he had $10 million in a trust fund to finance RASCO's operations.
"I do not believe the proper checks and balances were in place or followed in this case. A simple phone call validating the incorporation papers or the letter of credit involved would have put us in a much different place than we are today," Leyton told reporters Monday while standing in front of the MEDC's downtown Lansing office. "Neither of these things would have taken a great deal of effort."
Leyton, a Democrat, is running for attorney general against Republican Bill Schuette.
The woman in the other case Short is involved in died in September. Leyton said he still intends to pursue 24 counts of embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses and other charges against Short in connection with that case.
The Michigan Economic Growth Authority began doing background checks on applicants for state tax breaks after Short's arrest. Granholm also ordered a shake-up of the MEGA board, and lawmakers have held hearings to determine what changes should be made to prevent more fraud.
Short had a lengthy criminal record before this latest round of charges. He was convicted in 2002 of embezzling money from Harding Energy Inc. of Muskegon County's Norton Shores and sentenced to at least two years in prison. He also pleaded guilty in 2002 to earlier fraud charges in Oakland and Genesee counties, according to Corrections Department and state police records.
He was paroled in April 2004 but was returned to prison the following February for violating his parole with additional fraudulent activities. Until jailed in March, he had been out on parole since January 2007.
Published: Wed, Oct 27, 2010
