The News & Observer of Raleigh looks again at projects that Golden LEAF has funded (and may soon be funding), and the article includes this astonishing admission from a board member, Frank Holding:

Meeting at a hotel near Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Sept. 2, Michael Almond urged (fellow) members of the Golden LEAF board to turn down MS Mega. “Our money is all at risk, and basically it’s not being matched with skin in the game by the owner of the company,” said Almond, who is president of the Charlotte Regional Partnership, an economic development organization.

But Frank Holding, executive vice chairman and director of First Citizens Bank, pointed out that Golden LEAF had given money before to projects that didn’t amount to much….Golden LEAF’s 15-member board sided with Holding, voting overwhelmingly to give Jones County the money.