Federal Investigation Finds No Corruption

• {West Virginia}...In 2010, Charleston businessman Clark Diehl, the owner of Wallpapers In Stock Inc., agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with the government after being charged with tax evasion and mail fraud. The investigation uncovered that Diehl violated competitive bidding requirements by creating four false bids from two competing companies, which represented an amount greater than invoices he had submitted for his work. Diehl alleged there was public corruption in connection with his work including competitive bidding violations applicable with his contracts with the state. As part of the investigation, he recorded more than 100 conversations by phone and by a wire that he wore during meetings with state employees. Yet, the recordings “failed to corroborate” allegations of public corruption. According to the information, Diehl also prepared a false tax return, stating that his taxable income was $32,651 instead of $96,000. He pleaded guilty to both charges included in the information in 2010. Diehl will be sentenced August 8th in Charleston.