Local businessman and politician Brent Waltz — a former Johnson County Council member and state senator representing parts of the county — was indicted Tuesday and linked to a campaign donation scheme stemming from his unsuccessful congressional run in 2016.
A gaming executive was also indicted and linked to the scheme.
A federal grand jury in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana charged Waltz and gaming executive John Keeler with violations of federal campaign finance laws, false statements and falsification of records, for making illegal corporate contributions and conduit contributions to Waltz’s congressional campaign.
Waltz, 47, of Greenwood, was arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to make conduit contributions, false statements and to obstruct justice, one count of making and receiving conduit contributions, one count of obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements related to the scheme.
Keeler, 71, of Indianapolis, was charged with one count of conspiracy to make illegal corporate contributions, false statements and to obstruct justice, one count of making illegal corporate contributions, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of making false statements related to the scheme.
The indictment comes a day after the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched Waltz’s Greenwood condo. Waltz, a long-time Johnson County resident and Center Grove High School graduate, served on the Johnson County Council from 2000 to 2004, and represented District 36 in the Indiana State Senate from 2004 to 2016. He left to run for Congress in the Ninth District but was defeated in the Republican primary by Rep. Trey Hollingsworth.
Johnson County GOP chair Beth Boyce would not comment on the charges, and said she hasn’t spoken to Waltz recently, as he has not been an elected official for four years.
The state GOP referred comments to Waltz.
Waltz did not immediately return a request for comment.
Waltz and Keeler, who at the time was general counsel and vice president for Indiana-based gaming company New Centaur, LLC, allegedly worked with Kelley Rogers, a Maryland-based political consultant, on the scheme, according to the indictment filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
The plan to transfer thousands of dollars from the accounts of New Centaur to Rogers, who would then contribute that money to Waltz’s 2016 congressional campaign, was hatched at a meeting between Rogers and an unnamed New Centaur executive in April 2015 at the Indianapolis International Airport, the indictment says.
Rogers allegedly created fake invoices and agreements to make it appear like he was providing services for New Centaur, and recruited straw donors to each contribute $2,700 to Waltz’s campaign, the federal maximum contribution limit at the time.
A total of 15 straw donors were involved, including three of Waltz’s relatives and one of his business associates. The straw donors are not named in the indictment. Rogers and Chip O’Neil, a Republican strategist who pleaded guilty in a separate campaign finance violation and fraud case, were responsible for recruiting nine of the straw donors, according to the indictment.
The straw donors were allegedly reimbursed by Rogers, who used the money he received from New Centaur. Rogers and O’Neil also each donated $2,700 to Waltz’s campaign and allegedly reimbursed themselves with money from New Centaur.
Rogers also allegedly transferred money from New Centaur to Waltz, who also recruited straw donors and either reimbursed them or paid them in advance, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
New Centaur transferred a total of $79,500 to entities controlled by Rogers for the scheme, according to the indictment, but Rogers allegedly kept $33,300 of that to pay for his consulting fees for his services to Waltz’s campaign.
A straw donor, as defined in the indictment, is a person who contributes to a campaign in his or her name despite receiving advance payment or reimbursement of all or part of the contribution, acting as an intermediary between the true source of the contribution and the campaign receiving the donation. Federal law says the name and occupation of the donor and the amount and date given must be reported for donations of more than $200.
Waltz also donated $10,800 of his own money to the campaign through straw donors, according to the indictment.
Waltz told the FBI Rogers paid him $12,000 because Waltz’s investment banking company was on retainer with Rogers’ company. Waltz further told the FBI he sold $100,000 in art and other items to loan money to his campaign, but the items were actually gifts, loans and other contributions to his campaign, the indictment says.
Federal Election Commission documents show $152,078 in individual contributions, $113,700 in loans to the campaign from Waltz, and no corporate contributions to the campaign.
The case is under investigation by the FBI and is being prosecuted by trial attorneys William Gullotta and John Taddei of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, and Brad Shepard and MaryAnn Mindrum of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
The investigation into Waltz’s campaign first became public in January when O’Neil, a vice president at Strategic Campaign Group and an employee of Rogers, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in federal court in Virginia. He admitted to helping collect donations from small donors in the names of candidates who never received the money.
O’Neil said in court that at least eight people, including his girlfriend, were used as conduits for illegal corporate donations to a U.S. House candidate in Indiana. Court documents did not reveal the candidate, but Federal Election Commission records indicate the recipient of the funds was Waltz.
Court records implicated an unnamed Indianapolis gaming company and its vice president and general counsel as part of the scheme. The Indiana Gaming Commission later acknowledged that company was Centaur Gaming and the executives were Rod Ratcliff and John Keeler.
Ratcliff has not been charged in connection with the straw donation scheme.
Keeler and Ratcliff are executives at Spectacle Entertainment, which is operating the Majestic Star casinos on Lake Michigan in Gary and constructing a $300 million land-based casino that will replace those riverboats.
The gaming commission on Tuesday said it suspended Keeler’s casino license and was investigating the actions of Spectacle and others involved, according to the Associated Press.
“This matter is extremely serious,” commission executive director Sara Gonso Tait told the AP. “The ability for this company to continue to hold an Indiana gaming license is in question.”
Indianapolis-based Spectacle said in a statement that Keeler has taken administrative leave, the AP reported.
“It is important to remember that Mr. Keeler is presumed innocent of all charges,” the statement said. “Spectacle Entertainment will have no further comment at this time.”
Spectacle Jack, whose parent company is Spectacle Entertainment, was the only applicant for the Terre Haute casino license and had proposed a $125 million casino near Interstate 70 and State Road 46. Florida-based Hard Rock is partnering with Spectacle Jack on the 100,000-square-foot casino.
The gaming commission eventually approved the Terre Haute casino after Keeler and Ratcliff divested their interest in Spectacle Jack, the license holder.
The Indianapolis Business Journal contributed to this report.
