PORTSMOUTH — On Friday, the head of the Southern Ohio Port Authority and the Scioto County Economic Development Department and his wife were indicted on allegations that they took bribes in return for awarding public contracts.

Auditor of State Keith Faber announced that Robert P. Horton faces 15 criminal counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activities, theft in office, telecommunications fraud, aggravated theft, money laundering, tampering with public records, tampering with evidence, bribery, having an unlawful interest in a public contract and falsification.

Lioubov E. Horton faces 12 criminal counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activities, theft in office, telecommunications fraud, aggravated theft, money laundering, tampering with evidence and having an unlawful interest in a public contract.

The indictment was filed Friday afternoon in Scioto County Common Pleas Court. Attorneys from the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) were appointed by the Scioto County Prosecutor to serve as special prosecutor in the case.

SIU launched its investigation after receiving a complaint alleging a potential unlawful interest in a public contract between the Southern Ohio Port Authority and an out-of-state company for a building at the Southern Ohio Aeronautical Regional Business Park, adjacent to the Greater Portsmouth Regional Airport in Minford.

SIU determined hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes were made to Robert Horton through a shell company owned by his wife.

In a Scioto County Port Authority Facebook post from Nov. 15, 2017, the port authority welcomed Horton as a board member and told about his background.

“The Southern Ohio Port Authority would like to welcome its newest board member, Scioto County Economic Development Director Robert Horton,” the post read. “Robert studied Construction Technology at North Florida University. Robert’s education also includes contract law, mechanical drafting, and sales & marketing. Robert has a combined 46 years of development, contracting, supervision and project management experience having personally been involved in over $180 million in development projects over the last 15 years alone. These projects include but are not limited to aviation, railroad, marine port, commercial, healthcare, financial and automotive sectors. Robert has been busy meeting business development leaders across Scioto County and our region. Welcome on board Rob!”