Four Erie County employees have been subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury probing the whereabouts of hundreds of county computers not accounted for in a widening investigation into the campaign activities of unsuccessful county executive candidate Paul T. Clark.

FBI agents and investigators from the Erie County district attorney’s office on Wednesday swarmed through the Rath County Office Building. County Attorney Laurence K. Rubin indicated the information systems employees were interviewed and then ordered to testify.

“I have reliable information that four individuals in [the Division of Information and Support Services] were interviewed and were served with subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury with respect to some computer investigation,” Rubin said.

The computers were set up with election software from the last campaign of County Executive Joel A. Giambra, according to Clarence businessman Michael W. Mullins, who has alleged a series of election law violations in the Clark campaign.

Giambra, who never publicly backed any candidate to succeed him but who had privately expressed approval of Clark’s early efforts, was unavailable for comment on Thursday.

District Attorney Frank J. Clark said Thursday that the investigation stems in part from the complaints of Mullins, a former volunteer in the Paul Clark campaign who alleges the candidate failed to disclose myriad campaign receipts and expenditures. Mullins also has raised questions about the origin of a bank of approximately 20 computers that operated in the nowclosed campaign office on Dick Road in Cheektowaga.

“We have been looking into questions of computers and whether county property was used in the Clark campaign — among other things,” the district attorney said. “We have been questioning Rath Building people, along with federal authorities, about allegations that county computers were used in the Clark campaign.”

Mullins said he told state and federal investigators probing his claims that Michael J. Beeny, a county employee with a long history of overseeing political computer operations, was involved in the Paul Clark computer system.

“Mike Beeny put the system together,” Mullins said.

He also said the system was already set up to work on a Giambra campaign.

“It was all hooked up to a network with a management information system for campaigns,” Mullins said, “and the software was written for Joel Giambra.”

Sources familiar with the probe say Beeny and his activities are of interest to investigators, as is at least one other employee involved in county computer operations.

Paul Clark’s campaign finance reports filed with the state Board of Elections, meanwhile, list no origin for the computers as either expenditures or in-kind contributions.

Rubin said he did not know the identity of those summoned to appear before the grand jury.

County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz also said Thursday that the Giambra administration informed him a few days ago about its own internal review that attempts to account for the used county computers. Rubin would offer no comment on whether he had contacted law enforcement about the missing computers.

“I will have no comment if it’s a pending investigation by the DA or the FBI,” he said.

The DA said that county officials acknowledge that the county’s information office is unable to determine what happened to used county computers that were not donated to charity or disposed of.

“There is a possible connection to the Clark campaign, and a larger issue of how [surplus computers] were disposed of,” District Attorney Clark said, “because existing computers do not reconcile with the total disposition of all computers.”

The Buffalo News reported on Oct. 7 that the Clark campaign failed to report several campaign expenditures and donations that Mullins said were integral to the campaign. He said his $35,000 loan was never reported until The News began asking questions about that as well as his salary payments to a recent college graduate who worked as a receptionist.

In addition, Mullins said he paid Buffalo marketing consultant Donald L. Turchiarelli $20,000 in cash for phone bank services on two occasions, and that Paul Clark was aware of the payments that were never reported to the state Board of Elections.

Mullins last week was interviewed for several hours by representatives of the district attorney and FBI, outlining all of his concerns about cash flow, as well as the origin of the computers and office furniture. He spoke to the investigators without an attorney, and produced documents he said support his claims that he demanded the Clark campaign document all the questioned transactions.

Paul Clark, meanwhile, has maintained his innocence and said Mullins was a rogue campaign volunteer who undertook a host of activities without the knowledge of the candidate or campaign finance officials. He also has said he will not comment further on any allegations.

rmccarthy@buffnews.com