Feds: Former Dayton Veterans Affairs chief accepted bribes, abused position

A man who was drawn out of retirement in 2011 to run the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center following a dental hygiene scandal almost immediately broke the law after he got there, according to federal authorities.

The month after he was hired in March 2011, William Montague illegally directed Dayton VAMC employees to do research he ended up sharing with clients of the private consulting business he ran on the side, federal authorities allege in a 51-page indictment that was unsealed this week.

The Dayton VAMC serves 16 counties in southwest Ohio, and also operates community clinics in Springfield, Middletown, Lima and Richmond, Ind.

Montague is also accused of accepting bribes at his former job as director of the Cleveland VAMC, which he ran from 1995 until he retired in 2010, in exchange for sharing confidential information with a Cleveland developer that helped him land VA contracts.

That developer, Michael Forlani, is serving eight years in federal prison on racketeering, bribery and other charges. The charges against Montague are related to the ongoing corruption investigation into government in Cuyahoga County that implicated Forlani along with more than 60 elected officials, public officials and contractors, according to The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

Montague, 61, pleaded not guilty to 36 counts including bribery, wire and mail fraud, and disclosing public contract information.

“As a Veterans Affairs Medical Center Director, William Montague misled staff and misused his position to enrich himself and businesses pursuing contracts with the Veterans Administration,” Stephen D. Anthony, the special agent in charge at the FBI Cleveland Office, said in a written statement. “The arrest of Montague reflects law enforcement’s continued dedication to root out corruption at any level.”

Ralph Cascarilla, who is listed in federal court records as Montague’s attorney, didn’t return a message seeking comment.

Montague ended his retirement in March 2011 to run the Dayton VAMC before leaving later that year. He was hired to help the center recover from a scandal surrounding a former VA dentist’s unsanitary practices that may have led to nine dental clinic patients contracting hepatitis.

Federal authorities allege Montague in April 2011 directed Dayton medical center employees to conduct research on solar manufacturers and alternative energy projects at VA centers across the country, according to court records.

After receiving records from his subordinates in April and May, Montague emailed them from his private email account to three businesses pursuing energy contracts with the VA that had hired Montague’s consulting firm, House of Montague.

“As promised,” one of the emails sharing the documents said, according to court documents.

Court records indicate Dayton VAMC officials knew about Montague’s private consulting gig and gave him ethical guidelines that prohibited him from using VA resources for his private work, and from using non-public information for his business.

Montague did not tell the employees he had do the research about his work consulting for the energy companies, according to court records.

Kim Frisco, a spokeswoman for the Dayton VA, directed comment to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland, which did not respond to a phone message.

Montague first began working for the VA in 1975, and was named federal employee of the year in 2000, according to a 2011 Dayton Daily News article about his hiring at the Dayton VAMC.

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