RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — On Friday, Richland County Councilwoman Dalhi Myers was in court for her bond hearing after being accused of misusing public money for herself.
Myers bond was set at $100,000. She had to surrender her passport and must have no contact with county employees unless it is an emergency.
The State Grand Jury issued 24 indictments against Myers, some of those charges include, misconduct in office, use of official position for personal gain and embezzlement.
Myers is accused of using tax payers money on things like personal trips, bills and gifts.
The State shared several examples they said the found from their investigation proving Myers was using the funds on herself. Some of those examples were several trips.
"In counts four and five, we have claims about a trip to Detroit, Michigan. This was again a trip that was put on the "P" card and it's very easily proven as a personal trip," one of the prosecutors said.
Myers took a trip to Greece paid for with a county-issued card, according to the report.
"Ms. Myers claimed for this that she went there on a personal vacation to Greece and she met somebody in Greece that knew about the sewer system and therefore she could convert the trip to be paid for by the county," one of the prosecutors said. "The reality is when we look at her financial situation that's not what was going on at all. Reality is, she had used the "P" card because of the difficult financial situation she was in. Ms. Myers claimed to law enforcement that she paid for the trip to Newark, then flew to Greece because somehow she was hoping to stalk Magic Johnson and his people, and Richard Seymour, was a former defensive tackle who grew up in South Carolina, and then some how that was OK for the county to pay. That she fly to Newark and hopefully run into Magic Johnson or Richard Seymour and raise some issue. Not only is that absurd, but it's demonstrably false."
The State also said Myers used the county card to buy personal items at stores as well as to pay bills.
"When some of this started to come to light Ms. Myers wrote a check for $27,000 to the county saying, you know what, I'm going to pay it all of this stuff and then almost immediately she said you know, what no, I'm not. I'm going to let you know it's not my fault, it's actually your fault you weren't monitoring my card," one of the prosecutors said. "And so I'm going to take the money out of that account. Well the county tried to run it twice, it bounced twice. Our case and our investigation was made harder because of the loose way that Richland County runs financial issues."
Richland County Chair Paul Livingston released a statement regarding the indictment of Myers:
“There is nothing more important than residents having trust and confidence in their locally elected officials and local government.
“While I am disappointed in and concerned about the alleged conduct of Councilwoman Dalhi Myers, I respect the due process of law and her right to defend herself against these allegations in court. Despite this troubling situation, the Richland County Council and its hundreds of dedicated employees will continue to work hard every day to serve the public with honor and integrity. To that end, Richland County Council will review recommendations to improve the accountability and transparency in its use of purchasing cards.
“Richland County Council and its employees, under the leadership of Administrator Leonardo Brown, remain committed to serving our residents with excellence, transparency and enhanced accountability. Further, as Governor McMaster has chosen to suspend Ms. Myers from serving on County Council, my Council colleagues and I are committed to ensuring the concerns of residents in District 10 are addressed as we await the official swearing-in of Councilwoman-elect Cheryl English," Chairman Paul Livingston.
Councilman Jim Manning sent the following statement to News 19:
“Due to several on-going pending legal matters associated with Richland County Council, it would be inappropriate to make any public comment at this time," Jim Manning.
Councilman Joe Walker also sent News 19 a statement:
"My hope is that the events of today will bring the conversation around use of discretionary funds by elected county officials back to the forefront. Months ago I submitted a motion to terminate the use of P-Cards by council members, much like county administrators past tried to do and think it time to revisit that motion. The taxpayers deserve full transparency for every last penny of their hard earned tax dollars and I intend to pursue just that," Joe Walker.