Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh sued his office Tuesday to pay for legal fees he incurred during a criminal probe and, in a separate lawsuit, accused a political action committee of “character assassination” through mailers sent ahead of his loss in the Democratic primary.
In a complaint filed in Orange County circuit court, Singh said he hired attorneys to defend him against “possible criminal charges” related to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation that recommended Singh be charged with 10 counts of official misconduct.
Citing “insufficient evidence,” prosecutors ultimately decided not to file charges against Singh, though they found his office altered documents to avoid “bad optics” during an audit but could not determine Singh had ordered the action.