Oregon DOJ levies fresh allegations over local officials’ data center ‘scheme’

By Mike Rogoway - The Oregonian/OregonLive

The Oregon Department of Justice has made new allegations against officials in Morrow County, who acquired one of Amazon’s key local vendors just as the tech giant was preparing to spend billions of dollars building data centers in their community.

A newly amended civil complaint reiterates accusations that local officials conspired to sell themselves Windwave Technologies, Amazon’s local internet provider, for a small fraction of its real value. It says they knew it was worth far more than the $2.6 million they paid in 2018, partly because of information they obtained from their jobs as public officials.

The amended complaint alleges these officials then lied about Windwave’s value to an outside accounting firm and to state watchdogs who reviewed the deal and that they schemed with longtime associates who “rubber-stamped” an unlawful transaction.