THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 19, 1996 TAG: 9607190499
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 44 lines
The Christian Coalition has suspended its chief financial officer after she reported alleged financial irregularities in the group's business dealings to federal prosecutors, the woman's lawyer said.
Judy Liebert of Chesapeake confirmed Thursday that she has been suspended with pay from her $85,000-a-year job at the conservative public interest group since late May. Liebert, who had worked at the coalition since its inception in 1989, declined further comment.
Her attorney, Moody E. ``Sonny'' Stallings Jr. of Virginia Beach, said Liebert was suspended because she informed federal prosecutors and postal inspectors of ``several financial improprieties that indicated criminal misconduct'' on the part of a company doing business with the coalition.
An assistant U.S. attorney in Norfolk said this week that he was unaware of any contact with Liebert and was unfamiliar with her name - a statement Stallings called ``surprising.''
Christian Coalition spokesman Mike Russell declined to provide details about Liebert's status, calling it a ``personnel matter.''
Russell said the coalition has hired the accounting firm of Coopers and Lybrand to audit the account with the contractor. Russell refused to provide details, but sources said the company had millions of dollars in contracts to design and distribute direct mail to the coalition's 1.7 million members.
As for why Liebert was suspended, Russell said: ``I can't comment other than to say Liebert has the responsibility of overseeing the process of how these services were being conducted and being billed to the organization.''
The coalition, headquartered in Chesapeake, was founded by religious broadcaster M.G. ``Pat'' Robertson and has become a powerful national lobbying organization for Christian conservatives.
Stallings, Liebert's lawyer, frequently ran afoul of the coalition during his four-year term as a Democratic state senator. The coalition took credit for Stallings' 1991 election defeat to Republican Kenneth W. Stolle.
Ralph Reed, the coalition's executive director, said in a 1994 speech that the coalition turned it's computerized conservative-voter identification system full-tilt against Stallings.
Stallings said Liebert hired him because he had represented her husband in a legal proceeding 10 years ago. MEMO: Staff Writer David Poole contributed to this report. by CNB