Whistleblower lawsuit alleges North Carolina district attorneys hired each other's wives
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A lawsuit filed in Wake County Superior Court Tuesday alleges two North Carolina district attorneys conspired to hire each other's wives and an employee was fired for blowing the whistle to the State Bureau of Investigation.
In a news release, attorneys for Debbie Halbrook charge that District Attorney Wallace Bradsher, who serves Caswell and Person counties, and District Attorney Craig Blitzer, who serves Rockingham County, "led a conspiracy to steal from the taxpayers through a fraudulent scheme: They would hire each other's wife as a full-time staff member, allow them to 'work' only a few days each year, have their staff falsify time records in the Judicial Branch's electronic payroll system to indicate that their wives were working full-time, and collect a combined total of nearly $100,000 per year in salaries their wives never earned."
CLICK HERE TO READ THE LAWSUIT
The lawsuit alleges Halbrook was fired by Bradsher because he suspected her of cooperating with an SBI investigation of the matter.
The Greensboro News and Record reported last year that the SBI confirmed an investigation is underway, but it is not complete and no charges have been filed.
Halbrook says in the lawsuit that she was just short of completing 20-years as a state employee when she was terminated and has lost the pension and health benefits for life she would have been entitled to.
Neither Bradsher or Blitzer have responded to the allegations made in the lawsuit.
