More charges filed against woman connected to H-tax investigation

An ongoing investigation into possible misuse of Richland County tax dollars meant for tourism funding has resulted in more charges against a woman already facing trouble.

Patricia Ford, the CEO of what is described as an educational nonprofit, has now been charged with five counts of forgery and one count of obstruction of justice on top of five previous counts of perjury, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Friday.

Ford is accused of forging contracts and agreements with supposed musicians to cover up the fact that she did not use the money for charity events, Wilson said in a news release. Ford also is accused of forging a signature on a check to her charity, SCALE Inc., and cashing the check for her own purposes, Wilson said.

Wilson said Ford also attempted to get a witness to sign a document falsely claiming he had agreed to donate money back to her charity when in fact he had never received the money from SCALE.

In a previous indictment issued March 16, Ford was accused of providing phony documentation to Richland County as proof she was spending $28,429 in county hospitality tax dollars to attract tourists. Ford is accused of pocketing the money.

The State newspaper reported in November that SCALE had received $130,000 since 2015 in county hospitality tax, or H-tax, money, collected on prepared meals and intended to be used to promote tourism in the county.

The State also reported that the organization had scheduled few events, activities or outreach, with the exception of the Carolina Sun Splash Festival, a Jamaican-themed reggae concert held in Columbia in the spring for the past several years.

Earlier in June, an injunction against SCALE was requested by the S.C. Secretary of State in a bid to keep the organization from soliciting charitable contributions until it produces records that have been requested through a subpoena.

This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 12:14 PM with the headline "More charges filed against woman connected to H-tax investigation."