RICHMOND, Va. – The executive director of a Virginia economic development commission bent rules to forgive a six-figure grant to a politically connected developer whose planned biofuel project didn’t pan out, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.The Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission's Evan Feinman did not recoup $210,000 Chuck Lessin owed the state, according to a report from the Office of the State Inspector General.
Feinman instead allowed Lessin's unrelated work as a member of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board, which also promotes economic development, to count toward the money he owed when his Appalachian Biofuels project fell through.In an interview, Feinman defended the decision, saying Lessin took an “adversarial.