LEONARDTOWN, Md. – It’s not every day that lawsuits seeking over a billion dollars in damages come along. Even less often, they have ties to Southern Maryland.
To further investigate claims made in a civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland seeking three times the $400 million alleged damages naming several notable figures in Southern Maryland, TheBayNet.com has been digging deeper into the story.
In paragraphs 99-107 of that civil complaint, Compass Marketing outlines potential “money laundering, embezzlement, mail and wire fraud,” found in a secret bank account that had been set up by former employees of Compass at Community Bank of the Chesapeake. These ex-employees were St. Mary’s County Deputy State’s Attorney Daniel White and St. Mary’s County Orphan’s Court Judge Michael White.
That civil complaint alleges over $4 million was disbursed from the secret bank accounts since 2008.
However, it was still unclear if the civil charges were the only ones the two brothers were facing. That is until a public records request was recently returned.
A Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) request was submitted by TheBayNet.com, seeking to review records between St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron and several related parties during a similar timeframe to the civil case. The request sought correspondences with St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney Richard Fritz, the Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton Howard III, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Letam Duson, and related documents.
Cameron and the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded swiftly to a broad MPIA request, confirming they received a criminal complaint which has since been turned over to the Office of the State Prosecutor.
The following is the complete statement received by TheBayNet.com:
“On November 1st, 2021, a written complaint was received by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office from Compass Marketing Inc. alleging criminal activity took place within St. Mary’s County by ex-employees of the company.
States Attorney Richard Fritz was consulted, who determined the complaint would be referred to the Office of the State Prosecutor for the State of Maryland.
The Sheriff’s Office is maintaining an open criminal case file on the matter in order to collect relative materials received by outside sources. However, there are no investigative efforts being made at this time by members of the Sheriff’s Office.”
Following our request being answered, confirming a criminal complaint has been referred, St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney Richard Fritz provided the following comment on the allegations his current prosecutor is facing.
“I can assure the people of St. Mary’s County that all appropriate steps have been taken due to the fact that I am conflicted out of any possible investigation, based upon the complaint,” Fritz told TheBayNet.com. “The integrity of my office is foremost.”
Cameron and Fritz both explained that due to potential conflicts of interest, the complaint had to be referred to the Office of the State Prosecutor for any potential investigation.
When the Maryland State Prosecutor was later asked for comment on the MPIA response received by TheBayNet.com, Howard explained that he could neither confirm nor deny whether an investigation was taking place and had no further comment on the matter. This is a standard policy put in place by the Office of the State Prosecutor for all complaints that are filed with his office.
Contact our news desk at news@thebaynet.com
Mr. D white himself huh? its about time …
I bet this is just the beginnings of the corrupt and crooked stuff that goes on in this county!!! SMH, I been saying this for yrs, I knew this county was shady!! (Note that I’m not hiding behind an anonymous or fake name.)
Lmao…did Fritz say the integrity of his office is foremost?
I had a good laugh too!
Saint Mary’s County is full of crooks and thieves. Most are in office to line their pockets. Saint Mary’s County is a under serve county. Full of high Property Taxes and gives the citizens nothing in return.
Kind of like dumb dogs comments on here, he posts and the citizens reading them get nothing in return
Yes, we love to kick a guy when he is down. Remember though, innocent until proven guilty.