Explosive Allegations In Wash. State Auditors Race

Troy Kelley, the Democratic candidate for Washington state auditor, has been accused of past corrupt business practices Image via TVW

Past allegations of corrupt business practices have come back to haunt Troy Kelley, the Democratic candidate for Washington state auditor. Kelley’s Republican opponent Thursday launched a website containing hundreds of pages of court documents. Some of them contain accusations that Kelley misappropriated funds and attempted to move the money offshore.

Court papers include allegations by Kelley’s former employer -– First American Title Company of California -– that Kelley broke into company offices in 2000 and stole a painting. Kelley says he was in Seattle at the time of the theft.

A 2010 lawsuit against Kelley by Old Republic Title Co accused him of misappropriating nearly $4 million in fees, laundering the money to move it off shore and destroying evidence. Kelley, speaking on TVW’s Inside Olympia, responds that the case was ultimately settled with no admission of wrongdoing on his part.

“All the claims that are previously made are completely false. There’s no question about that. Most of them are ridiculous. But number one let’s get to that issue, the claims are false. Number two this is James again, this is how he runs campaigns.”

James is Republican James Watkins, Kelley’s opponent. Kelley is a current Democratic state lawmaker from Tacoma and a Lt. Col. in the Washington Army National Guard.

On the Web:

Inside Olympia - Troy Kelley and James Watkins:

http://tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwplayer&eventID=2012090063

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