A correction ran on this article, post-publication. Because of an editing error, it incorrectly reported the board of directors on which Bob Schaffer served. He was a board member of the National Alternative Fuels Foundation.
A Republican activist from Aurora who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with a larger fraud prosecution was sentenced Monday to a year’s probation and a $3,450 fine.
Scott Shires, 55, faced up to a year in prison after pleading guilty to filing false tax returns in connection with a case against his one-time employer, Octane International Limited, which purported to be making an alternative-fuel additive.
The case has drawn attention of Democrats and liberal blogs because former Congressman Bob Schaffer served on the company’s board.
A federal jury found Octane International founder William Orr guilty last month of 22 criminal counts that involved defrauding investors and the U.S. government. Orr is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 3.
Shires is well connected in GOP circles in Colorado and recruited Schaffer to be a board member of Octane International in 2004.
Schaffer said he resigned when he learned Orr was under federal investigation.
Schaffer’s campaign recently reversed an earlier claim that the former congressman hadn’t been paid for his service on the board, and said that Schaffer indeed received a one-time payment of $1,500.
“I was going on Bob’s recollection,” said campaign spokesman Dick Wadhams. “Subsequently, Bob did find that $1,500 payment for the brief time he served on the board.”
Schaffer listed his service on the Octane board on his 2007 campaign disclosure form but left blank the space that should have indicated any income from that position.
But the disclosure technically covers only the period for the previous calendar year, while Schaffer has said he resigned from the board in 2005.
A correction ran on this article, post-publication. Because of an editing error, it incorrectly reported the board of directors on which Bob Schaffer served. He was a board member of the National Alternative Fuels Foundation.
