BEL AIR, Md. — In the ongoing legal battle between Harford County and its tourism contractor, a forensic accountant filed a report in court saying that Visit Harford! spent nearly $372,000 in "unjustified expenses."
Visit Harford! sued County Executive Bob Cassilly back in 2024, saying he withheld funds, though that case was dismissed last month.
However, the county had filed a counter-claim arguing that the organization wasn't adequately accounting for its taxpayer funds.
The forensic accounting firm they hired went through the financial records provided by Visit Harford! to the court.
It found that more than half of the money spent in the period they were looking at didn't fall under the terms of a contract between the County and the organization.
The contract was new for the fiscal year 2024, under the Cassilly administration.
"Under the Contract," writes the forensic accountant in his filing, "VH [Visit Harford!] would be eligible to receive up to $645,000 in three installments of $215,000 for tourism-related purposes, provided that VH request the payments in writing and submit a report identifying the expenditures of the previous installment payment."
The court document goes on to say that the tourism organization would only be allowed to use the funds for "tourism-related purposes" under this new contract.
The forensic accounting firm found a number of categories of expenses that it said didn't fall under allowable uses for the money under the terms of the contract.
These included legal services, operations of the organization, and advertising and marketing costs related to Visit Harford! operations.
WMAR-2 News has reached out to Visit Harford! for comment, but hasn't yet heard back.
