Wanda Greene's CPA license revoked for 'deceptive conduct'
ASHEVILLE - Former Buncombe County Manager Wanda Greene no longer is a certified public accountant after a state board found she engaged in "deceptive conduct."
The Board of Certified Public Account Examiners ordered the permanent revocation of Greene's CPA license after Greene pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges, according to a notice sent to the Citizen Times.
An independent state agency, the board is responsible for the examination, licensure and regulation of CPAs. It concluded that Greene violated accountancy administrative code, which defines "deception" as "fraud, misrepresentations, representations or omissions that a CPA either knew or should have known to have a capacity or tendency to be misleading."
A consent order prohibits Greene from offering or rendering services as a CPA. She has agreed that she will not claim or attempt to use any practice privileges in any other state.
Buncombe County's top administrator for nearly two decades, Greene earlier this year reached a plea agreement in which she agreed to admit guilt in each of the four fraudulent schemes alleged by prosecutors: two counts of federal program fraud, one count of making and subscribing a false tax return and one count of receiving kickbacks or bribes.
Read more of our coverage of the county corruption investigation:
► Michael Greene's family pleads for leniency: 'Even good people make mistakes'
► She raised concerns. Then Buncombe manager Wanda Greene cut her annual salary by $16,000.
► Court records: Creighton told investigators about bribery scheme, requests probation
Greene was thrice indicted by a federal grand jury. She used county-issued credit cards for personal purchases, bought valuable life insurance policies with taxpayer funds and joined two other administrators in a yearslong kickback scheme with a county contractor.
Greene also is accused of conspiring with former county Commissioner Ellen Frost to use more than $575,000 of public funds on personal equestrian activities in North Carolina and elsewhere. While Frost, a Black Mountain Democrat, was charged in July with fraud and conspiracy following an 11-count federal indictment, Greene did not face additional charges.
Frost has pleaded not guilty. Her Charlotte-based attorney, Tony Scheer, has dismissed the allegations and said his client is not part of the schemes committed by "one-woman crime wave" Greene.
Greene, who has repaid the county $750,000 under a civil settlement, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 28. Her attorneys are Thomas Amburgey of Asheville and Noell Tin of Charlotte.
Based on federal guidelines, Greene's plea agreement offense level falls within a 70- to 87-month sentence — as many as seven years. Points were added because of her aggravating role in the offenses, abuse of position of trust, her role as a high-level public official and income from criminal activity. A reduction was included for timely acceptance of responsibility.
The decision ultimately will be made by U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad, who can consider relevant conduct and only has to abide by Greene's maximum possible penalty of 33 years and a $1 million fine.
Greene is the last scheduled hearing that day, following other officials who have pleaded guilty to corruption charges: former assistant managers Jon Creighton and Mandy Stone, as well as ex-contractor Joe Wiseman and Michael Greene, Wanda Greene's adult son who worked as the county's business intelligence manager.
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You can read the board's consent order here: