West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster has been a critically important part of the state’s disaster recovery efforts for nearly a decade, but its future is uncertain after an employee’s embezzlement of more than $870,000 and questions about the leadership of now-retiring executive director Jenny Gannaway.
Last month, former finance and operations manager Benjamin Cisco was sentenced to three and a half years in a federal prison. From spring of 2020 to late summer 2022, Cisco admitted to taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from WV VOAD through fake travel reimbursements, theft of donations and the purchase of gift cards for his personal use. Eyewitness News said Gannaway has declined to comment several times about her retirement date and her role and practices within the organization. Cisco is set to report to federal prison Wednesday to begin serving his 41-month sentence.