BY CHELYEN DAVIS
The campaign manager for Krystal Ball's congressional campaign says her $1 million to $5 million in stock of an educational software company came from a settlement with a third party--not with the company itself.
Ball, a Democrat, is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Rob Wittman for the 1st District seat.
Earlier this week, 1st District GOP Chairman Tom Foley filed a request with the Office of Congressional Ethics for an investigation into Ball's personal financial reports. Foley questioned when and how Ball came to own between $1 million and $5 million in stock in K12 Inc., listed as an asset in her 2010 report.
The stock was not listed in her 2009 report, and, based on the report, she did not seem to have the kind of cash to buy such stock in 2009.
Ball campaign manager Danny Barefoot said Ball could not have listed the stock in 2009 because she received it in March 2010, and that it was the result of a settled business dispute.
He said yesterday that that the dispute and settlement were not with K12, although the stock that Ball received as the settlement was K12 stock.
K12 had issued a release yesterday saying the company never gave stock or stock options to Ball, her husband or their companies.
"There was never a dispute between Zoma Ventures LLC and K12 Inc. The K12 stock that Krystal accurately reported in her House financial disclosure was awarded in a settlement from a third party in March 2010, not K12 Inc.," Barefoot said in a campaign statement.
Barefoot said he could not name the third party because of a confidentiality clause in the settlement.
K12 also said that while the company had a contract with Zoma Ventures, a company owned by Ball and her husband, it never paid Ball directly for any services. On her 2009 report, Ball had listed K12 as paying her for contracting work. She also listed some smaller payments from Zoma Ventures.
"Krystal and her husband, Jonathan, are partners in Zoma Ventures LLC and work on all projects as a team," Barefoot said in the statement. "As managing director, Krystal was proud to be the signatory on many of these projects."
Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425
Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com