Documents Implicate Pamela Evette’s Husband in Fraud Scheme

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by DYLAN NOLAN

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David Evette, husband of South Carolina lieutenant governor Pamela Evette, relinquished control of a firm he formerly operated after defrauding his business partners, according to documents obtained by FITSNews.

David Evette met Pamela Nesta through her role as accounting consultant and software trainer at PayPlus software in the late 1990’s. At the time, Pamela was living in Ohio with her husband, Joseph Nesta, while David was married to Tammy Evette.

At the time of their meeting, David Evette was the president of Priority One Services, a staffing agency based in Travelers Rest, S.C. David entered the human resources business in the 1980s, eventually selling equity in Priority One to business partners Karen Meetze and Wendell Shaw in the the mid 1990s.

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When asked about her first marriage in a 2018 Greenville News interview, Pamela Evette spoke highly of Nesta.

“He is a really great guy,” she said. “It just didn’t work out for us.”

David Evette’s first marriage also ended in divorce – while his relationship with his business partners suffered a similar split.

Records provided to FITSNews indicate by mid-2000, Evette’s business partners – Meetze and Shaw – became aware of missing monies. They hired the firm Sutton and Kiser International Investigative Service to determine exactly what had been taken.

Investigator Sunny Sutton, a veteran of the Korean War and Greenville police department who served as an investigator for the S.C. thirteenth circuit and the S.C. Department of Insurance prior to opening a private practice, delved into the business’ records – eventually uncovering multiple documents detailing the extent of the theft.

“The following is a recap of the money taken from Priority One Services, Inc., by David Evette, which have been identified as of May 5, 2000,” a schedule of the stolen funds reads. “This number does not represent the sum total due, pending audit.”

At the time the schedule was produced, Evette was found to have absconded with $44,894 of checks belonging to the business – and to have accumulated $49,040 of other personal financial obligations involving Priority One’s accounts.

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Meetze and Shaw cut a deal with Evette in which Priority One would be made whole under the condition that Evette agreed to relinquish his shares in the business and cease contact with members of the firm or it’s customers.

As a part of the deal, Evette produced a statement outlining his theft – as well as his thoughts on the morality of his actions.

“I am David Alan Evette, age 34, DOB 09-23-65, residing at 302 Hindman Road, Travelers Rest, SC 29690,” the statement began. “I do hereby make the following statement of my own free will and accord to Sunny Sutton with Sutton and Kiser International Investigative Service Inc. I have not been made any promises in order to make this statement.”

“I am President of Priority One Services, Inc.,” the statement continued. “I was involved in the formation of this company which began in 1995. I work in Priority One Services five days per week.”

“Approximately one year ago, I began diverting company funds into my personal accounts,” Evette proceeded to admit. “I used this money for my own personal use and also to pay my family bills. I do not know how much I have taken from Priority One Services because I did not keep an account of the money.”

“While doing this, I knew that it was wrong and I felt bad about it,” he added.

The document containing these admissions was accompanied by Evette’s signature, which this media outlet has independently validated.

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FITSNews spoke with Danny Cisson, one of the last living witnesses to the alleged fraud, about his notarization of the paperwork documenting Evette’s misconduct.

Cisson recounted Evette’s business partners suspecting impropriety and eventually discovering the alleged fraud.

“They got suspicious of David, and they hired that fellow Sonny, and Sonny went through the books and found exactly what David was doing, and David admitted all of it,” Cisson said. “But I thought, wow, but they had him dead to rights. There were no if ands or buts.”

“I’m actually the one that was contacted concerning it by Karen Meetze,” Cisson explained.

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Cisson was both friends with Meetze and related to Evette – putting him in a position to facilitate a deal between Evette and his business partners.

“His mother was alive at the time, who was my step-mom,” Cisson said. “And I ended up talking with the two of them and brokered a deal.”

Cisson told FITSNews he “worked the deal to get him out of the company and get them paid back,” adding if it weren’t for his friendship with Meetze, “Karen and Wendell would have really pushed for David to serve some time in jail” over the incident.

Cisson also claimed to have provided the cash necessary to make Meetze and Shaw whole.

“I wrote the check for the money, and then David’s mother reimbursed me,” Cisson said.

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When reached for comment, David Evette characterized the incident as a dispute over a loan his grandmother made to the company.

“Twenty-five years ago, my former business partners and I had typical disputes, including one over timely repayment of a loan my grandmother made to Priority One Services when the company was struggling,” David Evette told FITSNews. “We successfully resolved this dispute with full repayment in 2001, and I immediately went on to join one of the best business success stories in S.C. history.”

Pamela Evette’s campaign declined FITSNews‘ request for comment on when she became aware of her husband’s alleged fraud.

Evette currently serves as president of Quality Business Solutions, the payroll firm he cofounded with Pamela Evette.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

(Via: Travis Bell)

Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.

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