Economic Development Department Continues Probe Of Tax Credit Fraud Claims

A letter from the Director of the Department of Economic Development seeks to assure legislators the Department followed-up allegations of tax credit fraud.But, a leading legislator wants to hear more. State Economic Development Director Joe Driskill has sent a four-page letter to the chairmen of the Joint Committee on Tax Policy. In it, Driskill claims misperceptions have arisen that the department did nothing about the allegations raised by truckdriver Rick Russell of Steelville that there’s wide-spread fraud in the Rebuilding Communities tax credit program. Committee Co-Chairman, Senator Michael Gibbons of Kirkwood, says the letter is meant to assure committee members that the Department of Economic Development did more than it appeared they did. The committee has a meeting scheduled for Monday at noon. The committee has been investigating state tax credit programs ever since the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published stories based on Russell’s allegations.