A Wake County grand jury in Raleigh has indicted former North Carolina state Representative Jason Saine, once one of the most powerful budget writers in the state House, on four felony charges — two counts of embezzlement in excess of $100,000 and two counts of obtaining property by false pretense — in a widening investigation into the finances of Greater Carolina, a conservative political advocacy group.
Source: The Assembly
The indictment, reported first by Business NC and confirmed Thursday, November 12, accuses Saine of aiding and abetting David Coble, who prosecutors said was listed as Greater Carolina's treasurer and who now faces the same charges plus an additional count of embezzlement of less than $100,000. Coble is also listed as the group's director in its latest federal tax filings.
According to the indictment, Saine assisted Coble in soliciting donations to Greater Carolina. Prosecutors allege that, rather than using the funds for the group's stated purpose of supporting business and free enterprise, the money was used for the personal benefit of Coble and others. The charges are allegations: an indictment is not a conviction, and both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said groups like Greater Carolina “have become a pervasive part of the political landscape on both sides of the political aisle over the last decade,” adding that the case “serves as a reminder that the law places restrictions on the way they operate and sets forth that they should not be used as an end run around the statutory framework embodied in our state's Ethics Act and lobbying regulations.”
The money trail
Greater Carolina was formed in 2018. According to a search warrant cited in reporting on the case, its annual fundraising “grew substantially from approximately $60,000 its first year to more than $800,000 in 2023 and more than $500,000 in 2024.” Groups of this kind — nonprofit social-welfare organisations — typically do not have to publicly identify their donors, which is why they are often called dark-money groups.
The group's latest federal tax filings show it took in more than $834,000 in 2023, $568,000 in 2024 and $26,500 in 2025. In 2024 it spent more than $733,000, including more than $531,000 on “education,” $125,000 on contractors, $41,000 on meals and nearly $30,000 on travel, according to The Assembly's review of the filings.
From a bourbon tour to a criminal case
Greater Carolina first drew headlines over an April 2024 tour of Kentucky bourbon distilleries, attended by North Carolina lawmakers and lobbyists, where lawmakers were accused of acting disorderly. Later that year, the advocacy group Carolina Forward filed a complaint accusing Greater Carolina of using its nonprofit tax status to bankroll what it described as Saine's “exorbitant spending habits.” In April 2026, a Wake County grand jury indicted four prominent lobbyists on a misdemeanour charge connected to the 2024 trip; District Attorney Freeman agreed in September to dismiss the charges against three of them, while charges remain pending against the fourth, Kevin Wilkinson, according to Business NC.
Source: Business NC
Saine, a Republican from Lincoln County who was a senior House budget writer before resigning from the General Assembly in August 2024, is now a registered lobbyist in Raleigh. He denied any wrongdoing in a written statement: “I do not understand why I have been charged in this case. The indictment claims that I ‘aided and abetted’ a crime committed by someone else — I did not do that. This organization has an independent board that decided what and where to spend its money, and how to raise it. I was not involved in those decisions, as I told the State. I did not commit any crime and I look forward to clearing my name.”
What happens next
An arraignment hearing is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Tuesday, November 17, in Wake County. Freeman said the case will be handed over to her successor, Wiley Nickel, when he takes office next year. For North Carolina donors, lobbyists and lawmakers, the case is now the state's clearest test of where lawful political advocacy ends and personal use of advocacy money begins — and its outcome will be watched closely in Raleigh well beyond this one group.