MONTICELLO, NY — There are two contracts that exist that involve towing and Sullivan County. One contract is for towing county-owned vehicles. The other is a contract for towing evidentiary vehicles, or vehicles that have been seized by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office.

The second contract has not been signed by Sheriff Mike Schiff and on April 16 undersheriff Eric Chaboty made an appearance at a meeting of the county legislature to explain why.

Chaboty said both contracts were won by Skelly’s Towing based in Liberty. “At the point he became the successful bidder on that contract we became aware of some discrepancies in his business and we opened an investigation,” Chaboty said. “I can tell you at this point we interviewed Mr. Skelly in the last 24 hours and he is facing some very serious felony charges for insurance fraud.”

“Knowing that this was a possibility since he won the bid, the sheriff has been reluctant to sign the contract, and he won’t be signing it at this point at least until the investigation is completed. “

The investigation is ongoing, and Mike Skelly, the owner of Skelly’s Towing, declined to comment on the matter.