The CEO of a troubled dietary supplement company bankrolled an extravagant New York City shopping spree for the wife of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), the Richmond Times Dispatch reported Tuesday.
It’s the latest iteration of an ongoing story involving McDonnell and campaign donor Jonnie Williams Sr., the CEO of dietary supplement maker Star Scientific. Williams has been the subject of a federal securities investigation for months, as his relationship to the outgoing Republican governor has drawn mounting scrutiny.
According the Times Dispatch, citing “sources familiar with the ongoing investigations” into the governor, Williams treated Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell to a shopping spree to the tune of thousands of dollars in the spring of 2011. She reportedly tried on on a $10,000 suede jacket in the Manhattan-based showroom of designer Oscar de la Renta and Williams picked up the tab. Those gifts were not on “statements of economic interest” filed last year by the governor, although the Times Dispatch noted that the commonwealth’s law did not require them to disclose the purchases.
A report last week indicated that the McDonnells used taxpayer dollars to to pay for several personal items, including dog vitamins and a a “detox cleanse” for the digestive system.
