Investigator Claims Destruction Program On Grafton Computer

In a short but bitter special session Thursday the Grafton Township Board posted a draft budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year. Only when it was over did township officials receive a report from a computer investigator that he'd found an information destruction program had been installed on the computer from which the township's financial records went missing two months ago.

With what she said was a May 31 budget deadline approaching, Supervisor Linda Moore offered the Board a draft budget she'd prepared.  Trustee Rob LaPorta moved to post it but with an extended series of qualifications that trustees didn't trust it since they have questions about township finances and haven't been able to examine them.  "The actual budget may vary from this tentative budget," was the conclusion of his motion. "Call it an asterisk," said LaPorta during bickering before the measure passed unanimously.

Another attempt to unwind the complicated real estate and loan package behind the now-defunct new Township Offices failed again since no one appeared Thursday from Ancel-Glink, the Grafton Township Attorney firm.

It was after the meeting ended that LaPorta found an email on his smartphone from computer investigator Lee Neubecker complaining about his unpaid bill and containing for the first time some of the things he said he's found.

Neubecker said in probing  one Township computer he found a program called Eraser 5.8 had been installed February 15. That was President's Day, a holiday when the township office was closed.  It was also the day before Township Administrator Pam Fender began her new job.

Eraser 5.8 is a program that purges information by actively overwriting it instead of just telling the computer to forget where it stored it. The program was obtained from a professional security site, although that information was only evident in a screenshot included with the email.

Neubecker said he also found evidence that a folder named "Quickbooks" was sent to the computer's Recycle Bin. Quickbooks is the program the Township uses to keep its financial records straight. He said in his email it wasn't accidental.

Moore declined to comment on the email saying she hadn't seen it and citing "ongoing litigation".

"We have a report to file that the judge deserves to hear and we need to be paid for our work," concluded Neubecker who attached a statement with the email for over $15,000 in services so far.

In the pic:  Investigator Lee Neubecker said he found the records of a destruction program in Linda Moore's Grafton Township computer files.