EDA Responds to Tran FOIA on Movement of $858k+ of Court Ordered Reimbursements

Late the afternoon of Tuesday, July 22nd the Warren County Economic Development Authority (EDA, WCEDA, FR-WC EDA, FR-WC IDA) and its current Chairman Rob MacDougall responded to a July 15th Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request by former ITFederal principal and current Lewisburg Way LLC principal and sole member Truc “Curt” Tran regarding the movement of EDA assets. The “Request Description” of the Tran FOIA filing requests this:

“All records in the possession, custody, or control of the Warren County Economic Development Authority (EDA) concerning the transfer or handling of funds given to you, Mr. Robert Arthur MacDougall … on or about March 13, 2025, reportedly ‘to return to Atlantic Union Bank’.”  (See Exhibit 1, Court’s Record.)

“According to the Warren County Circuit Court’s record, this amount appears connected to the approximately $858,661.35 previously garnished from Atlantic Union Bank by United Bank in Case No. CL24000943-10/11. (See Exhibit 2, Court’s Record.)

“Despite this significant transaction, there appear to be no references to the funds or their disposition in the EDA Board’s minutes for March, April, May, or June 2025.”

EDA FOIA Response

Shortly after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, the EDA and EDA Board Chairman MacDougall responded. After a summary of the requested material the EDA response continued with this overview of released and unreleased material:

“As provided for in Virginia Code § 2.2-3704 (B)(2), the requested records are being provided in part and are being withheld in part. Electronic mail communications are being withheld pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 2.2 3705.1(2) and (3) because the communications include legal advice of counsel and other information protected by the attorney-client privilege and/or other work product compiled specifically for use in litigation.

“While FOIA only requires the disclosure of public records responsive to the request, in this instance, the EDA is providing an explanation of the timeline relating to the transfer of EDA funds on or about March 12-13, 2025 in connection with United Bank’s garnishment of EDA bank accounts.”

All five current EDA Board members at recent meeting where legal representation was reaffirmed regarding ‘financial scandal’ matters after questions on adequate members present during their first vote were raised. Below, current EDA general counsel G. Rodney Young of the Timberlake Smith firm of Staunton, Va. Young helped the EDA board prepare its FOIA reply to ‘Curt’ Tran – Royal Examiner File Photo and Timberlake Smith website photo

The EDA response continued to explain its relationship with the involved banks:

“The EDA maintains three bank accounts at Atlantic Union Bank: an operating account ending in 7845 and two other accounts that are restricted in use based on federal grants and/or loans (ending in 9244 and 9449).

“United Bank filed two garnishment actions against the EDA and garnished all EDA bank accounts. Atlantic Union liquidated all three accounts in response to the garnishment and paid all three accounts by cashier’s check to the Warren County Circuit Court Clerk on March 12, 2025. The amount paid by Atlantic Union to the Clerk’s office was $858,661.35. As a consequence, the EDA was without funds.

“A Consent Order was submitted to the Warren County Circuit Court before Atlantic Union liquidated the EDA’s accounts. The Consent Order dismissed the garnishment actions as to the EDA’s accounts except for $200,000 from the EDA’s garnished operating account. Once the parties were notified of entry of the Order, Mr. MacDougall went to the Clerk’s office on March 13, 2025 and requested a return of the check in the amount of $858,661.35 based on the Court’s dismissal of the garnishment actions.

“The following is a timeline of the events described above:

“1. On March 12, 2025, Atlantic Union sent $218,144.77 from EDA account ending in 9449 to the Clerk of the Warren County Circuit Court.

“On March 13, 2025, $218,144.77 was deposited back into EDA account ending in 9449. This was a portion of the Cashier’s check sent by Atlantic Union on March 12, 2025 that the Clerk’s office provided to EDA Board Chair Robert MacDougall once the Garnishment Dismissal Order was dismissed. Mr. MacDougall walked the check to Atlantic Union and deposited it back into the EDA’s accounts.

“2. On March 12, 2025, Atlantic Union sent $351,471.24 from EDA account ending in 9244 to the Clerk of the Warren County Circuit Court.

“On March 13, 2025, $351,471.24 was deposited back into EDA account ending in 9244. This was a portion of the Cashier’s check sent by Atlantic Union on March 12, 2025 that the Clerk’s office provided to EDA Board Chair Robert MacDougall once the Garnishment Dismissal Order was dismissed. Mr. MacDougall walked the check to Atlantic Union and deposited it back into the EDA’s accounts.

“3. On March 12, 2025, Atlantic Union sent $289,045.34 from EDA account ending in 7845 to the Clerk of the Warren County Circuit Court.

“On March 13, 2025, $289,045.34 was deposited back into EDA account ending in 7845. This was a portion of the Cashier’s check sent by Atlantic Union on March 12, 2025 that the Clerk’s office provided to EDA Board Chair Robert MacDougall once the Garnishment Dismissal Order was dismissed.

“Mr. MacDougall walked the check to Atlantic Union and deposited it back into the EDA accounts.

“4. The total amount of funds garnished from EDA accounts at United Bank and sent to the clerk of the Warren County Circuit Court on March 12, 2025 was $858,661.35.

“5. The total amount of funds deposited back into EDA accounts at Atlantic Union by Board Chair Robert MacDougall on March 13, 2025 was $858,661.35.

“6. On March 13, 2025, Atlantic Union wired $200,000 to United Bank to satisfy its garnishment of EDA funds in accordance with the Consent Order.”

And there you have the Tran FOIA request on where and when involved EDA funds were placed, and the EDA’s reply, signed by Board Chairman Rob MacDougall. Will the above-cited FOIA reply satisfy Mr. Tran and his legal representation in ongoing actions with the EDA?

A look forward and backward

Stay tuned financial litigation fans as ongoing legal-issue perspectives are brought forward between Tran and the EDA regarding various movements of funds, some of whose origins appear dated to the 2014-2018 EDA “financial scandal” which Tran and his ITFederal company found themselves in the middle of. Readers will recall in civil action related to the EDA “financial scandal” Tran and ITFederal were found liable for between $12-million and $14-million, including penalties and interest, based on EDA loans achieved through involved banks to ITFederal and its principal Tran.

Recently the two sides were in Warren County Circuit Court regarding Tran’s appeal of a court order that a 73-acre property acquired by Tran’s Lewisburg Way LLC for economic development, likely residential, valued at $1,414,300 be given to the EDA. The EDA’s argument, which the court sided with, was that the funds used to purchase the property were transferred to Lewisburg Way LLC by ITFederal with a portion of its funds found indebted to the EDA from the unrealized ITFederal economic development project at the Avtex redevelopment site off Kendrick Lane.

Truc ‘Curt’ Tran in file photo taken with initial ITFederal development occurring behind him. Ironically, the photo was taken Dec. 20, 2018, the day Jennifer McDonald resigned by email as the EDA Board of Directors met behind closed doors to discuss unauthorized movement of EDA assets.

We have yet to receive an indication as to whether Tran and Lewisburg Way plan to appeal that ruling by Warren County Circuit Court Judge Daryl Funk, who made the initial liability ruling in that case.