With financial records missing, Durham County deputy fire marshal under investigation for 'failure to perform duties' and 'conflict of interest'

On Oct. 26, the North Carolina Department of Insurance’s Criminal Investigations Division executed a search warrant on Michael Webb's office.

The warrant states there are several financial records missing.

Investigators searched Webb’s office. According to the warrants, authorities took:

The search warrant reveals the investigation started after a fire in April at a Durham elementary school.

A spokesperson for the Department of Insurance told WRAL Investigates that, to his knowledge, Webb has not been criminally charged. The spokesperson could said because of the ongoing investigation, he could not comment further.

Webb is a fire inspector with the Durham County Fire Marshal’s Office.

In April, Forest View Elementary School in Durham had an early-morning fire. While the fire alarm did not activate, the school’s motion detector did for the burglar alarm. Authorities discovered a Durham Public Schools employee was certified to perform the alarm test, according to the warrant.

However, the warrant states the district employee confessed to not completing the test and duplicating records. It resulted in the employee resigning, according to the school district.

Fire Marshal Jason Shepherd requested independent contractor M&P Services to retest the schools during the summer. After retesting nine schools, the district and leaders determined they would need further assistance. They contracted with other two other service companies. Webb’s family member is the owner of one of them.

“This is a conflict of interest … due to Webb [potentially] evaluating System Electrics’ work,” the warrant states. “Webb failed to [notify] … Shepherd of the relationship.”

The warrant states Webb signed an invoice for the certificate of occupancy fire alarm inspection. Webb’s family member also signed the invoice.

“There are no records that can be found by Fire Marshal Jason Shepherd, paper or electronic, and no records associated with billing or payments for services,” the warrant states.

On Thursday, WRAL Investigates reached out to Webb, his boss Shepherd, county commissioners and public information officers to ask if Webb is still employed by the county. A County spokesperson said Webb's current title is safety officer.

WRAL Investigates asked for clarification on the discrepancy between that title and what's on the county's website, and if that means Webb has been moved to a new role.

Webb’s LinkedIn page shows he’s worked for the county since January 2000.

Inspectors performed two inspections on Durham County Transit, the warrant states. It’s unclear when exactly the inspections happened. Inspectors found violations and assessed fees, the warrant states.

According to the warrant, a different inspector told Webb about the violations and fees. It states Webb told the inspector that he would handle the billing and payments. According to the warrant, Shepherd was unable to find any documentation that payments were ever made.

Also, the warrant states the same inspector inspected a transitional house on four different occasions. When the inspector approached Webb about billing and payments, Webb was supposed to handle it.

“There is no record of any billing and payments,” the warrant states of the inspections of the transitional house.