Caswell Beach mayor accused of embezzling $673,000 from beach town group

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — The mayor of Caswell Beach is accused of stealing more than $673,000 for personal use from a group he led to help the county’s beach towns.

District Attorney Jon David this morning outlined some of the allegations against Harry Simmons in an 18-count indictment connected to money towns paid into the Brunswick Beaches Consortium (BBC).

SBI agents and Brunswick County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Simmons and searched his home yesterday. Simmons was booked under a $1 million bond.

During his first appearance Tuesday, prosecutors say investigators found evidence in Simmons’ trash and recycling bins which they said showed 66 percent of the money from the consortium was in his personal account.

Other evidence disclosed in search warrants were e-mails from the mayor to a woman detailing explicit photos the mayor wanted to take for hundreds of dollars.

Investigators say when Simmons was arrested, he had a suitcase packed and his dog was boarded at a kennel.  Simmons’s attorney said his client wasn’t trying to run away and has known about the investigation since last year.

The judge reduced his bond to $675,000. If Simmons is convicted on all counts, he could face more than 100 years behind bars. If Simmons were to post bond, the judge has required him to reveal the source of the bond money to the court beforehand.  He would not be allowed to leave the state and his passport would be taken.

In November 2014, the Caswell Beach Town Council stripped Simmons of his powers as mayor and assign them to Mayor Pro Tem Deborah Ahlers. The move came amid questions of money the town had paid for a lobbying firm through the BBC. Simmons served as chair of the BBC, which is a joint program to restore and maintain beaches for the county’s coastal towns. The questions concerned how Simmons spent money earmarked for lobbying services that he apparently paid to himself.

“I have always understood that the latitude I was given allowed me to also be compensated or reimbursed as needed,” Simmons said in a statement e-mailed to WWAY the next day. “Since that time invoices have been submitted to and paid by the interested Consortium members, with only a couple of recent changes, and I have managed the effort to the best of my ability.”

The town council that night also voted to leave the BBC, which later changed its name and focus.

This morning, Brunswick county issued a statement on Simmons’s arrest

“Brunswick County is disappointed to hear there appears to be enough truth for the grand jury to issue indictments of Harry Simmons,” the statement read. “We acknowledge that the County misplaced our trust in Mr. Simmons, who has been a long-time advocate for Brunswick County beaches. The County has continuously worked to strengthen the fiscal controls over expenditures to partner organizations. The county’s contributions to the former Brunswick Beaches Consortium were approximately $30,000 per year since 2000.”

David said in all, local governments contributed $1,020,010 to the BBC.