SC mayor indicted on two counts after alleged misuse of taxpayer money
Prosecutors have indicted a South Carolina mayor accused by members of his own town council of misusing public funds.
Swansea Mayor Jerald Sanders is accused of embezzlement and misconduct in office in an indictment that came down Monday from a Lexington County grand jury, the S.C. Attorney General’s Office announced in a press release.
Prosecutors allege Sanders had checks written to him from public funds without authorization around December 2019. The money was then deposited in an account under his sole control, the indictment alleges. Under S.C. law, Sanders could face up to five years in prison for embezzlement, plus a fine commensurate to the amount allegedly taken.
In a statement Monday, Sanders attorneys Alex Postic and Carl Solomon denied Sanders had done anything wrong.
“Mayor Sanders categorically denies any criminal activity,” Postic said in an email to The State. “We are disappointed in the indictment against this honest and well respected mayor, and we look forward to continuing to represent him through this matter. I am confident that once the entire case is presented, Mayor Sanders’s name will be cleared.”
An investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division began more than a year ago, when Swansea Town Councilwoman Doris Simmons reported Sanders to police for alleged embezzlement from the town.
During a May 2020 budget meeting, council members questioned a payout from the town’s general fund. Sanders told his colleagues many townspeople had meant to donate money to his non-profit, the Halo Community Foundation, during the previous year’s Christmas parade, but had mistakenly written out checks to the town of Swansea instead, according to two council members present for the meeting.
A police incident report says the amount transferred was $4,500.
The attorney general’s release notes Attorney General Alan Wilson has sent the indictment to Gov. Henry McMaster, who has the power to remove public officials accused of misconduct.
Within an hour of the announcement of the indictment, the governor’s office issued an executive order suspending Sanders from office until the conclusion of the legal case against him. The mayor pro tempore of Swansea will instead serve in Sanders’ position until the mayor is either acquitted of the charges against him or a new mayor is elected, the governor’s order says.
This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 5:14 PM.
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