Prosecutor Scrutinizes Local Grant Program

Charity Reports Receiving Inquiry

The Maryland state prosecutor's office is examining a troubled community grant program created by Prince George's County officials and financed by the developer of the National Harbor project, according to a group that has been contacted as part of the probe.

An investigator from the prosecutor's office approached the county chapter of Christmas in April last month to ask whether it had received money from the program, a representative of the charitable group said.

According to the representative, the group confirmed what its executive director had told The Washington Post days earlier: that despite being listed as the recipient of $20,000, Christmas in April had not received any money from the grant program.

"The only question was did you get any money or didn't you, and we said we didn't get any money," said the representative, who declined to be identified because of the matter's political sensitivity.

The representative said the investigation appeared to be in the early stages. Steven L. Trostle, a senior member of State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh's staff, declined to comment yesterday on the review of the grant program.

Michael Arrington, a member of the committee that distributed the grants and the custodian of its records, declined to say in a recent interview whether he had been contacted by the prosecutor's office. "I have no comment to make to the newspaper," he said.

The seven-member committee has reported distributing National Harbor Community Outreach grants totaling $700,000. Three members were appointed by County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) and three by the County Council. Arrington was appointed by National Harbor developer Milton V. Peterson.

The Post reported last month that more than $181,000 was given to organizations with ties to committee members or to Johnson. Additionally, during his reelection campaign last summer, Johnson personally delivered at least $10,000 in grants to politically influential churches that had not applied for the funds.

James Keary, Johnson's spokesman, said he was not aware of any inquires by the state prosecutor's office. "We have no knowledge of any investigation," he said. "As far as we know there's none going on."

The National Harbor Community Outreach grant program is financed with donations from Peterson, developer of the $2 billion entertainment and residential complex being built along the Potomac River in southern Prince George's.

The grant program stems from an agreement reached three years ago between the county and Peterson. The county agreed to provide millions of dollars for National Harbor's roads and sewers, and Peterson pledged $350,000 a year for 10 years to support community projects. Andre Gingles, an attorney for Peterson Cos., said the company has not been contacted by the prosecutor's office.

After the County Council raised questions, the committee produced a list of 108 groups that received money. A review of that list by The Post found that in some cases, money was going to projects headed by members of the grant committee. The committee also reported giving out at least $27,500 -- including a check to Christmas in April, which fixes homes for low-income elderly residents -- to organizations that later said they never received the money.

After those disclosures, Johnson announced in March that the Prince George's Community Foundation, an established nonprofit organization, would partner with the grant committee to improve accountability and oversight.

In a brief interview, Veronica Davila, a member of the original committee, said the people appointed to the group agreed two weeks ago to disband. Asked if citizen volunteers would be involved with distributing future grants, she said, "not this group of citizens."