The town manager of a small town in Northern Virginia was put on paid administrative leave after being accused of bid rigging and fraud.
Purcellville Town Manager Kwasi Fraser appeared in court in Loudoun County Monday and was served two felony indictments. He was put on leave during a special town council meeting Friday.
“Because my client was charged by direct indictment, I really don’t know a lot about the case and won’t know a lot about the case until I get discovery from Mr. Olsen,” said Fraser’s attorney, Charlie King.
Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen was appointed to prosecute the case, which started when Attorney General Jason Miyares ordered Virginia State Police to investigate alleged corruption among Purcellville town officials.
In addition to Fraser, Purcellville Vice Mayor Ben Nett was charged with six felonies — two similar to Fraser’s and four others for allegedly using a police crime database to research his political opponents.
Following his arrest last week, Nett issued a lengthy statement in which he claims he is “being politically targeted by a weaponized law enforcement apparatus, part of a broader effort to overturn the results of the most recent election.”
Prior to being elected, Nett was a Purcellville police officer. He’s accused of meeting with a consultant for the purpose of swaying that consultant to name him the chief of police. When that didn’t happen, some members of Council started discussions to eliminate the entire police department.
At Monday’s hearing, former Republican state Sen. Dick Black supported Nett. Black said Fraser and Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman had a private meeting about eliminating Purcellville’s police department. Black says he can’t remember the date of that meeting.
“There was a meeting held with Sheriff Chapman in my home with Kwasi, and the purpose was to say, look, there is this discussion, this idea is under discussion, there’s no decision made, but Kwasi as the town manager said if it should come to this, is this something that the sheriff’s department could do?” Black said.
Chapman is on the record in April saying no one formally asked him if the sheriff’s office could cover the town.
A spokesperson for the sheriff said the department could not comment because the situation is under investigation.
Nett and Fraser are due back in court Sept. 4.
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