12032015 - News Article - FBI pays yet another visit to Porter County government

FBI pays yet another visit to Porter County government
NWI Times
Dec 03, 2015
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/fbi-pays-yet-another-visit-to-porter-county-government/article_1960e5b9-5324-5676-bbeb-c496913d8532.html

VALPARAISO | An FBI agent visited the Porter County auditor's office late Wednesday morning seeking informational material about the health insurance plan offered to county employees and elected officials, according to Auditor Vicki Urbanik.

The lone agent was interested in documents that describe the various insurance options offered back to 2011, as well as the forms used as part of the plan, she said.

Urbanik said the agent assured her the auditor's office was not the target of the investigation, but was visited because it houses the desired documents.

The FBI had also visited the auditor's office in August, an agent confirmed at the time. The agent declined to go into detail about the target of the investigation.

Wednesday's visit was the the latest in what has become an ever-widening investigation into local units of government, including the county and cities of Valparaiso and Portage.

FBI agents visited the Porter County assessor's office this past summer where they targeted property tax appeals from 2012 and 2013, assessor's attorney Christopher Buckley said at the time.

The agents from the Merrillville FBI office did not specify the reason for the visit, Buckley said. They did not have subpoenas and thus did not review or walk away with any appeal records, he said.

Federal agents have visited various Porter County government offices for two years, looking at a variety of areas of operations. The investigations also have targeted Valparaiso and Portage.

There have been no indictments as of yet stemming from the investigations.