COLOMBIA – SC Governor Henry McMaster sacked a state agency chief on February 8 and called for an investigation into whether she helped direct a $ 600,000 government contract to her husband’s company.
In one of the most unprecedented actions since taking office in 2017, McMaster dismissed Executive Director of the State Accident Fund, Amy Cofield, and referred the matter to the office of the Inspector General, who investigates allegations of “fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, misconduct and irregularities “within state agencies.
“These acquisition actions raise significant ethical and legal issues about the conduct of State Accident Fund employees,” said McMaster in a statement. “In addition to dismissing the director immediately, I asked Inspector General Brian Lamkin to conduct a full investigation to determine whether criminal violations of state law occurred. This is essential to maintain public confidence in the state government ”.
Amy Cofield
Cofield has led the little-known State Accident Fund, which provides worker compensation insurance to SC government officials, since McMaster appointed her to the position, which has a salary of $ 135,280 in January 2019.
Efforts to contact Lexington’s attorney and her husband were not immediately successful.
In a 25-page letter to Lamkin, McMaster wrote that his office was informed of allegations that the Cofield agency had hired her husband, Jimmy Terrapin, as a contractor in January.
Cofield confirmed the consultancy agreement – which requires her husband to work nearly 40 hours a week at $ 150 an hour for the next two years – when questioned by McMaster’s lawyer, the governor wrote. He would earn $ 300,000 a year.
McMaster sent the inspector general a series of documents detailing Terrapin’s hiring last month.
These records show that the State Accident Fund last year sought the help of a consultant to select and implement a new software program to handle workers’ compensation and collection claims.
Among the bidding requirements, the contractor must:
- Have a project manager available to meet in person with the State Accident Fund staff at least once a week at the agency’s Lexington office, the county where Terrapin and Cofield live.
- Attend all meetings between the agency and the software vendor, which will be held in Lexington.
- He has five years of experience in managing information technology projects.
- Answer all questions within 24 hours.
- Disclose any conflicts of interest.
A Lexington-based information technology company called Globalpundits submitted an offer and made it clear that Cofield’s husband would take care of the project, noting that he met all the qualifications of the offer. The offer also included a copy of Terrapin’s resume, highlighting previous jobs at BlueCross BlueShield in South Carolina, BenefitFocus and Colonial Life, publicizing his “30 years of information technology experience” and project management work for the federal government .
The contract was signed on January 6.
In his letter, McMaster instructed Lamkin to review the deal and report if he found evidence of wrongdoing.
McMaster, a former state attorney general, used his position to oust leaders from other state and local agencies.
He dismissed former Santee Cooper president Leighton Lord in 2017 after the state power utility did not quickly respond to investigations into his role in the $ 9 billion nuclear power plant’s failure to expand. The governor sacked the entire Richland County Election Commission in 2019 after they did not count more than 1,000 votes in an election.
State Accident Fund principal attorney Erin Farthing will serve as interim director until the governor can appoint a replacement, McMaster’s office said.
The 75-employee agency offers occupational accident insurance to about 575 state agencies and local government entities, covering 200,000 SC workers.
Cofield graduated three times from the University of South Carolina, according to his page on the State Accident Fund website. In 2014, she ran unsuccessfully for SC Education Superintendent, finishing fifth out of eight candidates in a Republican primary that Molly Spearman, the current head of state schools, ended up winning.
His brother and former legal partner, Tommy Cofield, was then governor. Appointed by Nikki Haley to the Board of Trustees at the University of South Carolina.
Reach Avery Wilks at 803-374-3115. Follow him on Twitter at @AveryGWilks.