FBI raids Detroit City Hall and the homes of 2 council members over corruption allegations

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DETROIT >> FBI agents today raided the offices of Detroit city hall and the homes of two city council members, just weeks after another city councilor was indicted in an alleged fraud scheme. corruption.

State agents and police were seen at the home of Janeé Ayers and Scott Benson. Officers were also seen leaving the town hall with boxes.

There was no immediate comment from Ayers or Benson, who are running for re-election.

“The citizens of Detroit have the right to a municipal government free of corruption,” Tim Waters, head of the FBI in Detroit, told reporters outside City Hall. “No one is charged today. What we are just doing today is collecting evidence.

Authorities have been investigating corruption in the Detroit area for years.

Ayers’ name appeared several years ago in a corruption investigation involving tow mogul Gasper Fiore, according to The Detroit News. She was not charged in this investigation.

Detroit City Councilor Andre Spivey was indicted in federal court last month with conspiracy to bribe and charged with accepting $ 1,000 from an undercover law enforcement officer in October 2018. The indictment also alleges that between 2016 and 2020, Spivey and “Public Officer A” accepted more than $ 35,000 in payments to influence votes “regarding an industry under review by the board.”

In June, former city councilor Gabe Leland was sentenced by Wayne County Circuit Court to probation after pleading guilty to accepting an illegal campaign contribution of $ 7,500 in cash. Federal corruption charges were to be dismissed as part of Leland’s plea deal.

In 2018, Fiore, of Grosse Pointe Shores, was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison for his role in bribing a suburban civil servant to help him with a municipal towing contract. The government said the money was channeled through an executive from a garbage haulage company, who also pleaded guilty to bribery.

Former Detroit Deputy Police Chief Celia Washington was also sentenced that year to one year and one day in prison in a corruption case related to towing contracts. Washington has been accused of accepting at least $ 3,000 from Fiore. Washington served as legal counsel for the Detroit Police Department, responsible for overseeing private towing companies that remove cars seized by police.

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