The ex-mayor is in jail on state charges. The FBI is investigating him and city hall corruption. And Detroit is in the economic dumps. Not a pretty picture.
BY JOE SWICKARD, M.L. ELRICK and JIM SCHAEFER
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — Federal agents converged on double fronts Thursday in their wide-ranging investigation into City Hall corruption, raiding two businesses linked to a city contractor who is a longtime friend of disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
The searches of offices linked to Bobby Ferguson followed last weekend’s news that a grand jury is seeking the testimony of a veteran City Council aide as part of the probe into allegations that officials have taken bribes for city contracts.
A City Hall official with knowledge of the federal investigation said Thursday’s raids were tied into the probe of an alleged pay-to-play scheme in city government for contracts, including those at Cobo Center, as well as a controversial sludge-hauling deal awarded to Synagro Technologies of Houston. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
By afternoon Thursday, agents lugged about a dozen boxes — one marked “2008 bank statements” — from Ferguson Enterprises Inc. on Wyoming on the city’s west side.
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