$21 million in SC tax money used on failed Panthers site not a crime, SC prosecutor says
The David Tepper-owned company that developed the failed Carolina Panthers headquarters in Rock Hill has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing after no criminal intent was found in the use of $21 million in pubic money , the S.C. Attorney General's office said.
York County sent GT Real Estate — David Tepper's company that was developing the site — road tax money for work on the Mount Gallant roadway close to Interstate 77. That was before the project collapsed into bankruptcy in 2022.
South Carolina prosecutors now say an agreement's wording allowed intermingling of the $21 million for project use, according to a Sept. 16 letter sent by the S.C. Attorney General's Office to the State Law Enforcement Division that conducted the probe.
Criminal charges are not warranted because the agreement from the project "contains no overt language definitively requiring segregation of the roadway tax money," the letter from Senior Assistant Attorney General Creighton Waters said.
The letter further goes on to say there is "no evidence that any roadway tax money was misappropriated for personal or other improper use."
The Attorney General's Office sent The Herald the letter Monday evening. WBTV first reported on the letter.
A Tepper Sports and Entertainment spokesman declined comment about the decision when reached Monday evening by The Charlotte Observer.
Panthers HQ site failure
The $800 million project stopped a few months before GT Real Estate filing for bankruptcy in June 2022. All civil claims against the Tepper companies were terminated and withdrawn as part of the bankruptcy deal, court records show.
The headquarters included promises of jobs, an outdoor stadium, space for community events and the prestige of having a NFL team set up shop in town.
Around the same time as the settlement, York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson, top York County prosecutor Kevin Brackett, and S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to investigate the transfer and use of the public money to the Tepper companies.
At that time in late 2022 when the investigation was announced, GT Real Estate said in a statement the money paid by the county for the project was "handled consistent with the terms of those contracts."
The Panthers returned the $21 million plus interest to York County as part of the bankruptcy agreement, according to the attorney general letter and court records. The city of Rock Hill got the 245-acre property back and is trying to sell it to developers.
The state's letter released Monday also states York County and GTRE had acted in "good faith" to reach the bankruptcy settlement agreement.
