(The Center Square) – The leader of a southern Ohio county port authority and economic development corporation faces indictment for bribery.
Robert Horton, the head of the Southern Ohio Port Authority in Scioto County and the Scioto County Economic Development Department, faces 15 criminal counts. Included are engaging in a pattern of corrupt activities, theft in office, telecommunications fraud, aggravated theft, money laundering, tampering with public records, tampering with evidence, bribery, having an unlawful interest in a public contract and falsification, County Auditor Keith Faber recently announced.
Horton’s wife, Lioubov Horton, was also indicted and faces 12 counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activities, theft in office, telecommunications fraud, aggravated theft, money laundering, tampering with evidence, and having an unlawful interest in a public contract.
Faber’s Special Investigations Unit began a probe after receiving a complaint about unlawful interest in a public contract between the Southern Ohio Port Authority and an out-of-state company for a building at the Southern Ohio Aeronautical Regional Business Park next to the Greater Portsmouth Regional Airport.
The investigation unit says hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes were made to Horton through a shell company owned by his wife.
Attorneys from the investigations unit were appointed as special prosecutors for the case by the Scioto County Prosecutor’s office.
