Imprisoned Dynus exec sues Butler, politician for $500m

Orlando Carter also claims FBI agents aren’t trustworthy.

Impris- BUTLER COUNTY — oned former Dynus executive Orlando Carter has sued But- ler County, several local politicians, FBI agents and others for $500 million in federal court.

Carter filed a 65-page civil lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati against the county commissioners, former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, state Sen. Bill Coley, former County Commissioner Chuck Fur- mon, Fifth Third Bank, a couple of FBI special agents and others.

“To be expressly clear, the purpose of this lawsuit is not to attack Carter’s conviction ... ,” Carter wrote, noting he has a separate court action for that. “As shown herein, the conduct and investigations by certain agents within the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as well as the conduct and behavior of certain poli- ticians named herein cannot be trusted nor relied upon.”

Carter was found guilty on 11 felony charges in 2009 in a scheme that cost two banks more than $10 million, caused Dynus’ 2005 collapse and ignited political scandal. He was sent to federal prison for 15 years. Carter’s fellow con- spirators were former company president Jim Smith, former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers and former company employee Karin Verbruggen.

T hose three p leaded guilty to their roles in the deal, which included Dynus taking out $6.5 million in illicit loans from National City Bank in Butler Coun- ty’s name, then using that fake deal to secure a line of credit with Fifth Third Bank.

Carter claims Boehner, Furmon and others falsely accused him with statements they made about the case. He pulled Coley into the lawsuit because he said he was an attorney for National City Bank.

The Republican senator from Liberty Twp. hadn’t seen the lawsuit but said as far as he is concerned, noth- ing nefarious happened.

“I was the attorney for the victim in that case, and everything we did in that case I believe was a public record,” Coley said. “I have no idea why he felt the need to include me in a lawsuit. I know nothing about it.”

Carter has been trying to get out of prison for years, filing all manner of motions with the federal courts. In this lawsuit, he claims U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman on Feb. 8 “conceded” bank documents showing the $4 million debt he and or his company Dynus owed were “fake and bogus.”

Included in his lawsuit is a letter that states the only loan on record with PNC Bank — that bank bought National City in 2008 — for Carter was from December 2003 in the amount of $250,000.

In another one of Carter’s court filings, Glassman addressed this issue.

“Whatever records a successor bank may have on file in response to customer requests does not change the facts, established at Carter’s jury trial, that National City Bank wired four million dollars in loan proceeds to his company, based on fraudulent representations about a letter-of-counsel guaranty and arising out of a loan to a local government that, itself, was a fraud — and that Carter then hid the guaranty from auditors to secure more loans,” Glassman wrote.

Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser said his office will “vigorously” defend the county.

“I’m confident in a successful result with respect to that,” he said.