1. Lots of people in office that supported Sanford now hate him. Undeniable fact.

2. Sanford left ALL Republicans out in the cold by refusing to compromise. On virtually every issue. It would be easier for you to tell me the issues Sanford compromised on…they were so dammed few of them.

And please don’t forget to take credit for the sun rising in the east…Sanford and his boys take credit for EVERYTHING…so why not that too

Posted by Kyle@yahoo.com ”

Actually, that comment (about Knotts supporting Sanford) was posted by “Penny,” although “Kyle” did post immediately after that as well. Are you both the same person? Just trying to keep track, as it’s confusing.

The dead business associate of a missing Hilton Head Island couple embezzled a total of $2.1 million from the pair and seven other clients over the past four years, according to the results of a financial audit announced Tuesday.

Dennis Gerwing, the former chief financial officer of The Club Group, a property management company, handled bookkeeping for John and Elizabeth Calverts’ four island businesses through December, when the couple sought to move those duties in-house. He funneled money from clients into a secret checking account using hand-written checks, bank teller transactions and wire transfers, the audit found.

The secret checking account was not subject to The Club Group’s oversight, according to the company. Company spokesman Tom Gardo would not say how much money was taken from the Calverts. The other clients are regimes and property owners associations on Hilton Head. The Club Group said those clients asked that their names not be released.

The money Gerwing allegedly took would have been used to meet payroll, insurance, maintenance and other service expenses related to managing the properties, Gardo said.

Gerwing was the last known person to see the Calverts during a business meeting March 3 in Sea Pines, not far from where the couple’s part-time home, the yacht “Yellow Jacket,” is moored. The couple was reported missing March 4.

Gerwing was interviewed once by investigators and hired a lawyer shortly thereafter. He was found dead March 11, the same day he was named a “person of interest” in the disappearance. His body was found in the bathroom of the Sea Pines villa he had been staying in since his home, office and cars were searched by authorities.

In the wake of Gerwing’s apparent suicide, Club Group president Mark King hired Baltimore-based FTI Consulting to examine the company’s books. King, in a statement released after Gerwing died, said he had discovered possible financial irregularities and brought in the crisis management forensic accounting firm.

In the days after the Calverts disappeared, there were rumors Elizabeth Calvert, a Savannah business attorney, had discovered money missing from her husband’s businesses, which include one that operates the Harbour Town Yacht Basin and another that rents out 125 vacation properties.

TRUST BETRAYED?

The Club Group’s clients have been informed of Gerwing’s alleged embezzlement and there is a plan to pay back the money using Gerwing’s estate, King’s personal assets and other Club Group assets, Gardo said. None of the clients wants to end their relationship with the company, he said.

In a statement Tuesday, King said he was shocked Gerwing, his friend and business partner through multiple enterprises over 20 years, would have betrayed his trust. King said he had no prior knowledge of any irregularities concerning Gerwing’s accounts.

The privately held company of 65 employees conducted internal financial reviews, which Gerwing oversaw, but did not bring in outside auditors until Gerwing’s death, Gardo said.

“To me, it was clear that Dennis knew he was trusted implicitly by Mark and he took advantage of it,” Gardo said. “There was enough personal trust after 20 years of relationships that he couldn’t imagine this kind of thing going on.”

FTI’s audit was not made public, but was given to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. Both agencies are conducting parallel investigations, one into the finances of The Club Group, Gerwing and the Calverts, and another into the Calverts’ disappearance. The two could be — but are not necessarily — related, said Sheriff P.J. Tanner.

The FTI audit, which says Gerwing is the only one responsible for the missing cash, is not being accepted at face value, Tanner said.

“That’s their opinion and that’s what they put in their press release,” the sheriff said. “I can’t support anything they put in there. It could be self-serving on their part or it could be what we find in the end. We’re too far from this investigation being over to make that determination.”

A local FBI field agent is sending information to one of the bureau’s forensic accounting teams, which is conducting an independent investigation into financial aspects of the case, Tanner said.

Obvious efforts to find the couple, including ground searches of landfills and the Sea Pines Forest Preserve, have ended. A lot of desk work remains, the pace of which is very slow and methodical, Tanner said. Detectives are searching computers, BlackBerrys, cell phones and a mountain of paperwork obtained through search warrants and subpoenas for clues to the couple’s fate or potential motives or whether a crime has even been committed. “In some ways, it’s like looking for a needle in the haystack,” Tanner said.

REPAYMENT PLAN

The Club Group met with the affected clients Thursday and Friday and presented a preliminary plan to repay the missing money.

The company is working with Gerwing’s brother Fred, a Louisville, Ky. resident, to liquidate some of Dennis’ estate to repay the money, Gardo said. Gardo didn’t know how much the estate would produce, but said Gerwing had “substantial assets that can go into this.”

Gerwing’s assets include a $1.2 million home in Columbia; a $430,000 home in Hilton Head Plantation, and a powerboat. The Club Group declined to release his salary. Cory Fleming, an attorney representing Gerwing’s estate, could not be reached for comment.

Arrangements have been made with local lenders to provide bridge financing to The Club Group until the estate is settled. Other money will come from King personally and assets owned by The Club Group, possibly including the sale of real estate, Gardo said.

“Our immediate company objective is to restore what was taken and to begin moving again in a positive direction,” King said in the Tuesday statement. “I sincerely hope the Hilton Head Island community will understand this situation, and that the conduct was conceived and perpetrated by a single individual will not reflect poorly on the more than 65 outstanding members of our company, many of whom have been with us for 15-20 years.”

THE BACKGROUND

John Calvert, 47, and Elizabeth Calvert, 45, were reported missing March 4 when they didn’t show up for business appointments. They split their time between the yacht in Harbour Town and a home in Atlanta. Their 2006 Mercedes was discovered March 7 in the parking garage of the Marriott in Palmetto Dunes, but yielded no clues.

The disappearance — and Gerwing’s subsequent suicide — has baffled the island, especially friends and employees who say the couple would not have left on their own without telling anyone.

Gerwing, 54, described as a world-traveler and wine connoisseur, was found dead by King and two attorneys in the bathtub of a blood-spattered bathroom. He had slashed his inner-thigh, wrist and both sides of his neck with a serrated steak knife, according to investigative reports.

He left two notes, one on a sheet of paper in the bathroom and another scrawled illegibly, or nearly so, on a fitted sheet. The contents have not been released.

Law enforcement sources told The State newspaper in Columbia Gerwing admitted in one of the notes to stealing money from the couple, but was silent as to whether he had a hand in their disappearance.

http://www.islandpacket.com/front/story/452675.html

1. Lots of people in office that supported Sanford now hate him. Undeniable fact.

2. Sanford left ALL Republicans out in the cold by refusing to compromise. On virtually every issue. It would be easier for you to tell me the issues Sanford compromised on…they were so dammed few of them.

And please don’t forget to take credit for the sun rising in the east…Sanford and his boys take credit for EVERYTHING…so why not that too

What a moronic comment. Knotts supported Hodges in the 2002 election (then nearly ran against him in a primary in 2006, then supported a different primary opponent against him, then supported yet another Democrat against him in the general election). But by all means, don’t let the facts get in the way of your visceral hatred for Mark Sanford.

And I would love for you to give one example of Sen. Knotts “cutting the best deal he could” where Sanford could have helped him. Please, enlighten us.

If only Boom Boom could have left Knotts sitting in the hot car, instead of the other way around…

“The love that last longest is the love that is never returned”.

Joshua stands behind his beloved Mark through he surely knows the Governor considers him the hired help, and certainly Sanford and family could not be bothered by the working class soul of Mr. Gross.

The help, as Jenny is fond of thinking, should not be allowed to close as they often smell, and are usually unattractive. Distance is required, lest the peasantry become too familiar.

So be forewarned, Mr. Gross. When Howard Riches money dries up, so will Mark Sanford.

Sanford loves to cry like a little school girl about the issues but when it came time to fight for the ideals for which he was elected he took a hike…leaving many of these people like Knotts to cut the best deals they could. These deals were not as good as had the governor stood with them, and sought hard compromise. But with Sanford, it is all or nothing….so Sanford got nothing and the taxpayers got the bill.

Good luck Senator Knotts. And I would ask that Ms. Shealy pay her own bills and not ask the party to pay them for her. It seems she can’t even wait to get elected before she begins living off other people. She will love the lobbyist. Oh boy, lobbyist love to spread the big money so it will be a match made in heaven.

One reason I quit being a member and substantial contributor to the GOP is just this…the party has become a group of insiders gaming the system for themselves.

The county party is supposed to be impartial but this clearly shows that its resources are being used to promote members of the clique…and this is wrong. This is why we conservatives are in jeopardy…and I believe there will be surprises for the GOP in the fall.

PS…don’t be surprised that right-wing toadies like Joshua are with Sanford and Ms Shealy. These sycophants are always chasing those in office, especially fellow nut jobs…so expect them to parrot the Sanford line. Purity it what they are about. Winning elections and hard work are foreign to them.