DENVER-
An employee gave $2,000 in cash to former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s chief of staff who failed to report the money, according to a criminal charge filed Friday in U.S. District Court.
Virginia Kontnik, who oversaw about 40 employees in Campbell’s office from 1995 until February 2004, faces a misdemeanor charge of making a false certificate or writing.
On her Public Financial Disclosure Report for 2002, Kontnik claimed she did not receive any reportable gifts even though she “well knew… she had received approximately $2,000 in cash from an employee whom she supervised,” according to court documents.
It was unclear why the FBI was looking at Kontnik’s financial disclosures. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver recused itself from the investigation, spokesman Jeff Dorschner said. Department of Justice officials in Washington confirmed it was the FBI that investigated but declined comment.
There was no listed number in Colorado for Kontnik and an after business hours message left for Campbell at the Washington law firm of Holland & Knight was not immediately returned.
Kontnik is expected to provide sworn testimony this summer in the age discrimination lawsuit filed by former Campbell employee Rita Bastien. A trial in that case is expected to begin in October.
