Upstate South Carolina Executive Scandal: Federal Indictment

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Last year, our media outlet published two stories tied to the abrupt resignation of a prominent Upstate South Carolina executive. Our coverage of the fall of Jody Gallagher – the former president and chief executive officer of AFL Global – referenced allegations tied to “the improper personal misappropriation of (company) assets.”

Gallagher, 66, took the reins of AFL – a subsidiary of Japanese-owned Fujikura – in 2003. He was also a member of Fujikura’s board of directors – its first and only American member. Last January, Gallagher was named one of the fifty “most influential” businessmen in the Upstate, according to Greenville Business Magazine.

As that positive press was being disseminated, though, a scandal was brewing…

On May 26, 2023, Fujikura chief executive officer Naoki Okada sent a memo to company employees informing them Gallagher was “no longer employed with AFL in any capacity.” A month later – not long after our first report on the scandal – the company informed its employees of a “suspected private misappropriation of real estate” by Gallagher. This alleged misappropriation was raised by a “whistle-blowing” on March 3, 2023.

To read our exclusive reporting on all of this, click here and here.

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In addition to detailing the allegations against Gallagher, we noted they were “the focus of a federal fraud investigation.” Last week, the fruits of this federal investigation were borne out in a grand jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Greenville, S.C.

According to the indictment (.pdf), between January 2021 and August of 2022 Gallagher “did knowingly devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain monies by means of false and fraudulent pretenses.”

Specifically, Gallagher “created a false business document” alleging that a company called EPIC Development Group “was serving as a consultant for AFL in the field (of) government contracts and optical infrastructure.”

“In truth, EPIC was a builder and was building a house for (Gallagher) on Kiawah Island,” the indictment alleged.

As work on his beach home progressed, Gallagher allegedly altered company invoices “to indicate that the recipient of the services was AFL and that the services involved consulting rather than construction.”

All told, Gallagher allegedly defrauded AFL of nearly $2.55 million in connection with the alleged scheme.

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News of the federal indictment was first reported by Amanda Shaw of Fox Carolina.

Federal prosecutors have charged Gallagher with three counts of wire fraud in connection with payments made to EPIC in March, April and June of 2021 – payments allegedly made “for the purpose of executing the scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses.”

Gallagher, “upon conviction… shall forfeit to the United States” any property derived from “proceeds traceable to such offenses.”

As with anyone accused of committing any crime, Gallagher is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as he may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges filed against him.

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THE INDICTMENT…

(U.S. District Court)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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