Hidden Pirate Trove Found

[LadyTevar]

And I ain't talkin' BlackBeard. They were pretty sneaky about how they did it, too.

January 18, 2006
Makeshift studio, piracy software found at Capitol

By The Associated Press

State investigators have stumbled onto a basement office in the West Virginia Capitol outfitted with computers, video and audio gear, and software used to pirate movies and music recordings, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

“Specifically, one hard drive contained approximately 40 full-length motion videos,” state Chief Technology Officer Kyle Schafer said in the Jan. 5 memo to Administration Secretary Robert Ferguson. “Two other hard drives contained over 3,500 MP3 music files consuming more than 14 [gigabytes] of hard drive space.”

Hundreds of blank DVDs, CDs and jacket covers were also found, as was software “commonly used to crack header codes on copyrighted materials such as movies and music to allow duplication,” Schafer’s memo said.

Ferguson confirmed Tuesday that his staff found the makeshift audio-video studio amid his widening probe into spending and other abuses at the state General Services Division.

The review found that someone in General Services sidestepped state purchasing rules to buy more than $88,000 worth of computers and related equipment over the last three years, including the items discovered in the basement office. Not all the purchased computers and gear can be located, Ferguson said.

General Services maintains the Capitol Complex grounds and buildings, among other duties. Yet Schafer’s memo shows that it purchased $51,000 worth of computers during the 2005 budget year alone, compared to the $45,726 worth bought by the state auditor’s office.

“The [purchase] card system was abused, in what seems to be an intentional attempt to bypass rules to buy equipment that for General Services was outside the norm,” Ferguson said. “There was no question on what they could do with a P-card, in my opinion. As a Cabinet secretary, I would say that it was out of control.”

Both the FBI and the Legislature’s Commission on Special Investigations are investigating his department’s finds, Ferguson said.

He declined to identify who made the purchases, or whose office contained the makeshift audio-video studio.

“We will hold accountable those people who have abused the letter and the spirit of the law and undermined my responsibility to safeguard the resources of the state,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson recently fired two division staffers, Gary McClanahan and Gary Bryant, after they claimed they had worked 18-hour days 119 times over the course of 2 1/2 years. Ferguson said a $466, 24-inch flat-screen computer monitor was found in Bryant’s office but that no evidence suggests either man orchestrated the computer purchases.

Ferguson and Schafer found that the General Services purchases were usually less than $1,000 and so did not trigger a review.

“General Services has purchased several PCs and notebooks without hard drives, processors or operating systems,” the memo said. “Subsequent orders were then placed to acquire the above mentioned items.”

The AP obtained Schafer’s memo through a Freedom of Information Act request filed with Ferguson, who took office with Gov. Joe Manchin last year, after his probe of General Services yielded evidence of the overtime abuse as well as the apparent mishandling of asbestos removal contracts.

The legislative auditor has since reviewed Ferguson’s findings, and found evidence of wrongdoing in both areas.

“As we continue to peel back the onion, every time we turn a corner we find something else that doesn’t look right,” Ferguson said.