Another fine mess

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1998:

NOKESVILLE, Va.––Philip J.
Hirschkopf, attorney for the Humane Society of
Fairfax County since 1988, and board member
Beth Richelieu, a paralegal who works for
Hirschkopf, resigned in August and told The
Washington Post that they would ask the Fairfax
County commonwealth attorney and Virginia
state attorney general to investigate a pending
transaction in which HSFC would purchase the
34-acre Chestnut Crossing Farm from Heather
Kirby Viar, 28, for $800,000.

Viar is the daughter of HSFC president
Victoria Kirby. Kirby told The Washington Post
that she had removed herself from discussion of
the purchase before the HSFC agreed to pursue
it––which will involve making a $200,000 down
payment and taking out a $600,000 mortgage for
the rest.
According to Washington Post writers
Wendy Melillo and Leef Smith, the Nokesville
horse farm has an assessed value of $228,100.
Viar claims to have made $300,000 worth of
improvements, including building a state-of-theart
horse barn and riding ring, since buying it for
$205,000 in 1994.
The farm has been boarding eight horses
for HSFC at $275 a month, an arrangement
reportedly under investigation by the consumer
protection division of the Virginia Department of
Agriculture.