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Topic: HUD investigates MSHDA & Snyder Appointee
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

HUD investigating complaint against state housing agency


Paul Egan 8:41 p.m. EDT October 19, 2014


The Office of Inspector General of HUD is investigating a complaint Michigan Democrats filed in September alleging a potential conflict of interest or misuse of federal funds by former Michigan State Housing Development Authority executive director Scott Woosley, an official confirmed Friday.

"MSHDA has met with HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) OIG on this matter," and an investigation is under way, MSHDA spokeswoman Katie Bach told the Free Press.

Woosley resigned in August, one day after the Free Press reported he had spent tens of thousands of dollars on travel and expensive dining since he took office in 2012, filing expense reports for items such as filet mignon, escargot, foie gras and pricey rum.

Democrats, who obtained the expense records, filed the complaint with the inspector general's office based on other records showing Woosley, while heading MSHDA, was administering a government grant to his private real estate investment company, Labor Management Fund Advisors of Troy.

Woosley did not respond to a phone message left at his office Friday.

Records show Labor Management got just over $1 million from a $98-million HUD grant that the Michigan State Housing Development Authority received in 2008 for its Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

MSHDA received the grant long before Woosley was named executive director in October 2012. But records show grant funds continued to flow from the authority to Labor Management until at least the first quarter of 2013, when the company received $15,519 from the grant.

In filing the complaint, Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Lon Johnson said the administration of Gov. Rick Snyder "either permitted or turned a blind eye to a major conflict of interest involving the head of his housing agency."

Johnson said Friday that confirmation of an investigation "speaks volumes about the way he is running state government."

But Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said numerous steps were taken to avoid a conflict and Snyder officials "welcome the review."

Bach said in September MSHDA "built in several protections, such as creating a firewall so Mr. Woosley could not access or approve payments on the contract and was excluded from all decisions related to it."

She said "detailed action was taken to ensure no conflict of interest."

In confirming the OIG investigation Friday, Bach said, "It would be inappropriate to comment any further until that process is complete."

The OIG investigates potential misuse of federal funds, including fraud, waste and mismanagement.

"We do not comment on any of our investigations," HUD OIG spokeswoman Marta Rivera Metelko said Friday.

Paul Egan is a reporter for the Detroit Free Press.


Last edited by untanglingwebs on Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:18 am; edited 2 times in total
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:35 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Feds probe complaint against ex-Michigan housing chief


Chad Livengood, Detroit News Lansing Bureau 11:22 p.m. EDT October 19,



Lansing — Federal authorities are investigating a conflict of interest complaint Michigan Democrats filed over a real estate company continuing to get paid by the state housing authority while one of its owners served as Gov. Rick Snyder's agency director.

Michigan State Housing Development Authority spokeswoman Katie Bach confirmed Sunday that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general has launched an investigation into the complaint against former Executive Director Scott Woosley.

"I can neither characterize the investigation nor comment (further) until the process is complete," Bach said in an email to The Detroit News.

Woosley abruptly resigned in early August after the Michigan Democratic Party exposed documents showing he was racking up lavish travel expenses that totaled at least $100,000 in less than two years on the job.

Bach said MSHDA officials recently met with federal investigators from HUD's Office of Inspector General over the Democrats' complaint.

Woosley previously told The News he continued to share in the profits of his Troy-based company, Labor-Management Fund Advisors, while collecting a $135,000-a-year paycheck. Gubernatorial appointees typically sever financial ties with their businesses to work in state government to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

A day before agreeing with Snyder to step down, Woosley told The News that his firm had no business with the state. "Most of our activities are in other areas of the country," Woosley said in an Aug. 7 interview.

But state records indicate the firm was paid $15,519 on a $1 million nine-unit housing redevelopment project in the first quarter of 2013, five months after Woosley took over running the housing agency.

Snyder administration officials have said a "fire wall" was erected to block Woosley from making any decisions on his firm's contract, including payments.

The Democratic Party requested the federal probe on Sept. 18.

"The fact that Snyder's administration is now under federal investigation for conflicts of interest and massive travel expense abuses at their housing authority speaks volumes about the way he is running state government," Lon Johnson, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said Sunday in a statement.

Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said late Sunday the administration welcomes "the review."

"As we've shared before, numerous steps were taken to ensure no conflict of interest," Wurfel said in an email.

Woosley could not be reached Sunday night for comment.

In September, Wurfel emphasized Woosley was no longer part of the administration and called the Democrats' pursuit of a federal probe "more baseless allegations to distract from the real issues and the real story of Michigan's comeback."

Woosley's reimbursed expenses included $10,000 first-class flights to the Middle East and Beijing to woo foreign investors to Michigan, $500-a-night hotel rooms, expensive meals including such delicacies as foie gras and escargot, and more than $23,000 in travel on state-owned planes.

State records show some of Woosley expenses weren't approved for reimbursement, including bar tabs for alcohol and a $180 massage at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Woosley has denied trying to get the state agency to reimburse him for a back rub.

Before resigning, Woosley had asked the state Treasury Department to review his travel expenses "to determine if there was anything at all that was inadvertently reimbursed."

clivengood@detroitnews.com

(517) 371-3660
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:39 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

It was MSHDA that helped direct the federl money into poorly thought out projects like Smith Village.

Did Flint ever reimburse the money given to Boio for the construction of the FIA building on the corner of Clio and Pierson. MSHDA also had a HUD finding associated with Boji in Detroit. There is a connection to the Wayne County raud scandals of Ficano.
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:44 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

HUD sent a monitoring visit letter to Mike Brown in mid June that detailed four findings, three which must be repaid. The monitoring visit was conducted on April 23-26, 2012 by Kathleen Hines, a Community Planning and Development Specialist. The letter stated that HUD found evidence of "noncompliance with CDBG and NSP regulations that will require program modifications and repayment of disallowed costs."

Finding 1- For Profit development of a building for the general conduct of government.

1A-undue enrichment to the developer $550,000

Finding 2- Ineligible activity- Housing counseling services provided by a non_HUD certified housing counseling organization and failure to provide certification to potential homebuyers- $250,000


Finding 3- Failure to properly procure management of the NSP1 Program $244,916



finding 4- Failure to comply with applicable laws, code, and other rquirements relating to housing safety, quality and habitability in competing NSP rehabilitation

Concern 1- unreasonable costs related to homebuyer counseling activities.


Post Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:30 pm
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D


The letter also references 4 additional findings from monitoring reports in 2011, of which only one was closed.

NSP3 is in jeopardy as the city agreed to Special Contract Conditions in March 2011 and has yet to meet those conditions. The City must modify its Action plan to meet these conditions which must be completed in order to meet the 50% expenditure deadline of March 2013. Memorandums were sent to the city in January 2012, but as of the date of the letter nothing has been completed..

Of the $3,076,522 budgeted for NSP 3, as of march 31, 2012 no money was expended.

NSP is the neighborhood Stabilization Program.

Last edited by untanglingwebs on Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:10 pm; edited 1 time in total


Post Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:38 pm
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D


Page 2 of the letter references previous monitoring that took place April 27-30, 2010 and may 24-27, 2011.
The four findings were:

1, Failure to adhere to rehabilitation standards
2. Lack of oversight of subrecipient monitoring.
3. Failure to follow procurement regulations; and
4. Failure to solicit women and minority owned business enterprises.

" As a reult of the city's lack of progress, an NSP Needs Assessment was completed in 2010 by ICF International but no technical assistance was provided. Along with the NSP3 agreement, special contract conditions were imposed at HUD headquarters. At the time of this writing, the City has been approved for and is receiving NSP Technical Assistance. Emphasis on restoring NSP2 activities will be the primary goal with NSP1 and NSP3 to follow."


Post Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:54 pm
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D


PUBLIC FACILITIES AND IMPROVEMENTS

"We sought to determine the eligibility of the project in the city's DRGR Action Plan titles "Acquisition for Redevelopment-Boji." HUD questioned this activity first in October 2011 and this project is the subject of the first finding as an ineligible activity for the city .

The original Boji contract was awarded through the State of Michigan and was for the Department of Human Services. This is the new DHS building constructed on Clio Road near Pierson.

Boji, under the name of MIG Investments, LLC, is a for-profit developer who won the award for the building through a competitive bid process through the State of Michigan.

MIG sought gap financing for this project and was awarded $550,000 in the form of a forgivable loan, with security interest released at the completion of the project.

NSP projects are required to follow CDBG (Community Block Development Grant) rules and this project violated 24 CFR 570.201, 24 CFR 570.207 and OMB Circular A-87 (C)(2). Also Flint did not establish need based on service to low, moderate, middle income residents in the area of greatest need. Simply being located in Flint does not establish need.

In addition, the report cites a resale back to the City as a condition of the State of Michigan award that resulted in the developer's net proceeds including the NSP award in excess of 23% or more than $1 million at closing. "This rate of return is generally considered unreasonable, especially for a project with long term tenants in place prior to construction. The low risk does not justify this rate of return."


Post Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:19 pm
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D


Hud recognized the significant needs of the City of Flint that these NSP funds could have been used for. Since the project was already planned to be constructed in Flint by the State of Michigan, providing funding to a for-profit builder resulted in less funding for other needs.

Hud states the City must return the $550,000 to the US Treasury. The money, upon repayment, will be in the City's line of credit and must be used for eligible activities.


Post Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:27 pm
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:58 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

HUD stated the Boji Group received undue enrichment when they built the new DHS building due to the $550,000 they received on a State of Michigan award.

My question is this-Is there the possibility of kickbacks to Flint public officials in order for them to break the rules? After all Boji and his family ties are being investigated in the Ficano scandal for possible dishonest dealings involving Ficano's staff and even Ficano's girlfriend.





Did local developer with close county ties have inside track to federal money?


Posted: 11/19/2011
• By: Ross Jones



(WXYZ) DETROIT - On a Friday night in September in Downtown Detroit, forty thousand fans packed the stands to watch the Tigers take on the Cleveland Indians.But few had a seat as good as the fans sitting in Wayne County’s suite. Ron Boji has been a guest many times. His brpther-in-law is Asst. Wayne County Executive Nader Fakhouri.

Boji is a developer with real estate projects far and wide. He and his family have been some of Robert Ficano’s most reliable campaign contributors. Not long ago, Boji held a birthday party fundraiser for Ficano at his sprawling Orchard Lake home.

Boji’s name surfaced in the widening Wayne County scandal back in October, when the FBI named his company, The Boji Group, in a federal subpoena. At issue tonight: did his relationship with Ficano’s office help land his company federal money for a big development in Wayne County? And did Fakhouri stand to benefit from the deal?

Boji used that federal money to build the Inkster Marketplace, a sprawling two-block, four-building development that couldn’t have materialized had it not been for federal funds provided by Wayne County. It passed along government grants totaling almost $2 million that ultimately went to Boji’s company. And the county official who handed over the money? Fmr. Economic Development Chief Turkia Mullin.

Last summer, the Wayne County Building Authority bought one of those buildings from Ron Boji, paying about $7 million. What building authority officials didn’t know when they bought it? Boji’s brother-in-law, the assistant county executive, had a 20% stake in the Inkster development. It’s an investment he only disclosed in October, a month after we told Ron Boji we were looking into his work with the county.

But that’s just part of this story, and this development project. A few hundred feet down the street, Boji was also working on a new headquarters for the local YWCA.

For that building to be developed, the Y first needed to sell its old headquarters to the city of Inkster for its new police headquarters. But they needed to find an appraiser, first. According to a memo written by the then director of the YWCA, Ron Boji recommended one person: Jumana Judeh. She’s a Dearborn based commercial real estate appraiser and she just happens to be County Executive Robert Ficano’s girlfriend.

She received about $2,000 for her appraisal. And not long after, the City of Inkster purchased the old YWCA. Construction on their new headquarters is still ongoing, but it stopped for several months when the Y ran out of money. It started up again in the summer after the county awarded the Y another $300,000 in federal money that would go to Boji. Once again, Turkia Mullin signed off on the money.

Ron Boji denies having the inside-track to any federal money awarded by Wayne County. We were scheduled to meet with Boji today at 3 o’clock about this story, but late yesterday his spokesman abruptly cancelled our interview.

As for Boji’s access to the county’s Comerica Park suite, Ficano spokeswoman Brooke Blackwell says it’s not a sign of favoritism.

If you have a tip for the Action News Investigative Team, contact us at tips@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.


Post Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:37 am
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:02 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Probe of Ficano's office persists | The Detroit News


Probe of Ficano's office persists
www.detroitnews.com › Metro › Wayne County

Sep 08, 2014 · ... documents obtained by The Detroit News show. ... Fakhouri now works for the Boji Group, ... Ron Boji. He is a reliable ...

September 8, 2014 at 11:14 am
Probe of Ficano's office persists
Feds look further into fundraising, officials' ties, documents show
Joel Kurth
The Detroit News


Detroit— The federal investigation into Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano’s administration continues to probe fundraising and ties between staffers and contractors, documents obtained by The Detroit News show.

Nearly three years since FBI agents served subpoenas at the Guardian Building, U.S. attorneys in June demanded a raft of documents about Ficano’s fundraiser, former Assistant Executive Nader Fakhouri, and Anthony Parlovecchio, a onetime deputy to former economic development chief Turkia Mullin.

The attorneys sought records about nonprofits Mullin directed. And in April, they interviewed officials connected to her: economic development successor Ray Byers; his deputy, Dave Tyler; county attorney Steve Collins; and former staffer Jill Ferrari, according to dozens of documents obtained by The News through the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents contain emails showing U.S. attorneys were in regular contact with Ficano’s top deputy, Jeffrey Collins, from January into early summer. In August, Ficano lost his bid for a fourth-term, finishing fifth in the Democratic primary.

“They are looking at Ficano, but these cases take a lot of time,” said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor and former federal prosecutor.

“In building a case like this, going after the upper level, progress is measured in months if not years. It’s very document intensive, which is why you see them going back and asking for more and more documents.”

The probe has led to four guilty pleas and convictions related to bribery of four former Ficano aides and one contractor. All were charged at least two years ago, however, leading to some to speculate the investigation has gone cold.

Jeffrey Collins said communication with federal agents has been “off and on” since a federal grand jury issued subpoenas in fall 2011. He is a former U.S. attorney for Eastern Michigan who said the Ficano administration has “fully cooperated” with the federal agents.

“From working over there (as a U.S. attorney), I understand it’s sometimes difficult to put a period at an end of the sentence. Investigations can be ongoing and take many different turns and angles,” Collins said.

“I’m not shocked they haven’t ended it as of now. Hopefully, (the investigation) will end in the very near future, although they haven’t given me any indication it will.”

U.S. attorneys in June also demanded bank records, meeting minutes and IRS documents for the county’s Business Development Corp. and Greater Wayne Economic Development Commission.

The Business Development Corp.’s board consisted of county contractors and paid Mullin a $75,000 bonus atop her $200,000 county salary. She left the county in 2011 to become CEO of Detroit Metropolitan Airport, but was fired after two months when a furor erupted over a $200,000 severance she received from Ficano.

Mullin sued the airport for breach of contract and an arbitrator awarded her the duration of her three-year contract, more than $700,000.

Her attorney, Ray Sterling, said she has had no contact with federal agents and he is unaware of their recent demand for information from the county.

Gina Balaya, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney Office in Detroit, declined comment.

The records also show federal agents are investigating Parlovecchio. The former Mullin staffer quit in 2011 and was hired on a contract soon thereafter as the county’s owner representative on a $300 million jail project. The deal would have made him up to $2 million but he was fired later that year.

After his dismissal, cost estimates on the downtown project soared and it was abandoned last year.

Parlovecchio is suing the county’s Building Authority over his dismissal. His attorney, Ben Gonek, did not return messages seeking comment.

The records show the U.S. attorneys sought records about Parlovecchio’s dealings with HYPE Athletics, a Dearborn Heights recreation center that created a controversy because it was built on county parkland.


Among other things, attorneys sought records “regarding any potential conflicts of interest” between Fakhouri, the county and Boji.

John Truscott, a spokesman for the Boji Group, said the federal government sought similar information in its initial subpoenas. “They had all this information three years ago and there’s been no follow-up,” he said.


jkurth@detroitnews.com


From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140908/METRO01/309080019#ixzz3Gh6GNJcy
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:07 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

The agents also demanded documents about Fakhouri, who left the county in 2012. He was Ficano’s chief fundraiser, helping the executive build one of the state’s wealthiest political fundraising machines. Fakhouri returned to work for Ficano’s most recent campaign and was constantly at his side on election night.

Fakhouri now works for the Boji Group, a Lansing development company owned by his brother-in-law, Ron Boji. He is a reliable campaign contributor to Ficano and his company was named in a 2011 subpoena because it was among the companies that had a seat on the board of Mullin’s economic development nonprofit.

When Fakhouri worked for the county, he had a stake in a building in Inkster the Boji Group sold to the county’s Building Authority for $7 million in 2010. He disclosed his interest after the sale.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If I remember correctly, Boki allowed specific council people to submit lthe names .of local minority contactors for use as sub-contractors
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:16 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Ex-Ficano aide's ties to developer concern HUD officials ...


www.wxyz.com/...ficano-aides-ties-to-developer-concern-hud-officials

Lansing developer Ron Boji's company benefited from more than $1.5 million in federal ... HUD also alleges that Boji made too much ... Detroit 2020; Community ...
.

Did local developer with close county ties have inside ...


www.wxyz.com/news/local-news/investigations/did-local-developer...

... On a Friday night in September in Downtown Detroit, ... Ron Boji has been a guest many times. His brother-in law is Asst. Wayne County Executive Nader ...
.
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:19 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Did local developer with close county ties have inside track to federal money?


By: Ross Jones

Posted: 12:05 AM, Nov 19, 2011

Updated: 8:24 PM, Nov 19, 2011
o By WXYZ


(WXYZ) DETROIT - On a Friday night in September in Downtown Detroit, forty thousand fans packed the stands to watch the Tigers take on the Cleveland Indians. But few had a seat as good as the fans sitting in Wayne County's suite. Ron Boji has been a guest many times. His brother-in law is Asst. Wayne County Executive Nader Fakhouri.

Boji is a developer with real estate projects far and wide. He and his family have been some of Robert Ficano's most reliable campaign contributors. Not long ago, Boji held a birthday party fundraiser for Ficano at his sprawling Orchard Lake home.

Boji's name surfaced in the widening Wayne County scandal back in October, when the FBI named his company, The Boji Group, in a federal subpoena. At issue tonight: did his relationship with Ficano's office help land his company federal money for a big development in Wayne County? And did Fakhouri stand to benefit from the deal?

Boji used that federal money to build the Inkster Marketplace, a sprawling two-block, four-building development that couldn't have materialized had it not been for federal funds provided by Wayne County. It passed along government grants totaling almost $2 million that ultimately went to Boji's company. And the county official who handed over the money? Fmr. Economic Development Chief Turkia Mullin.

Last summer, the Wayne County Building Authority bought one of those buildings from Ron Boji, paying about $7 million. What building authority officials didn't know when they bought it? Boji's brother-in-law, the assistant county executive, had a 20% stake in the Inkster development. It's an investment he only disclosed in October, a month after we told Ron Boji we were looking into his work with the county.

But that's just part of this story, and this development project. A few hundred feet down the street, Boji was also working on a new headquarters for the local YWCA.

For that building to be developed, the Y first needed to sell its old headquarters to the city of Inkster for its new police headquarters. But they needed to find an appraiser, first. According to a memo written by the then director of the YWCA, Ron Boji recommended one person: Jumana Judeh. She's a Dearborn based commercial real estate appraiser and she just happens to be County Executive Robert Ficano's girlfriend.

She received about $2,000 for her appraisal. And not long after, the City of Inkster purchased the old YWCA. Construction on their new headquarters is still ongoing, but it stopped for several months when the Y ran out of money. It started up again in the summer after the county awarded the Y another $300,000 in federal money that would go to Boji. Once again, Turkia Mullin signed off on the money.

Ron Boji denies having the inside-track to any federal money awarded by Wayne County. We were scheduled to meet with Boji today at 3 o'clock about this story, but late yesterday his spokesman abruptly cancelled our interview.

As for Boji's access to the county's Comerica Park suite, Ficano spokeswoman Brooke Blackwell says it's not a sign of favoritism.

If you have a tip for the Action News Investigative Team, contact us at tips@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:23 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Ex-Ficano aide's ties to developer concern HUD officials; county asked to return $850k grant
By: Ross Jones

Posted: 6:35 PM, Jun 6, 2013


(WXYZ) - Concerns by the Department of Housing and Urban Development over a developer's close ties to Robert Ficano's office could cost Wayne County an $850,000 grant.

For more than a year, HUD officials have been looking into a development deal in Inkster, where federal funds were secured through Robert Ficano's office.

Lansing developer Ron Boji's company benefited from more than $1.5 million in federal funds to develop the sprawling Inkster Marketplace along Michigan Avenue.

In a December letter, HUD officials asked the county to return $850,000 in grant money because of Boji's strong ties to then Assistant County CEO Nader Fakhouri.

Fakhouri, who is Boji's brother-in-law, received a 20% stake in the building Boji was paid to construct. The Wayne County Commission, which had to sign off on the project, didn't know about Fakhouri's stake in the building either.

"We've never received any paperwork that shows Nader Fakhouri had an interest in this," Commissioner Kevin McNamara said.

"It would have raised a huge red flag."

HUD issued their own red flag, deeming it a "conflict of interest" and saying Fakhouri was "…in a position to potentially influence funding…" that went to him and his family.

Boji declined to talk to 7 Action News, but his spokesman said the developer acted properly and violated no rules.

"Lawyers were consulted every step of the way to make sure everything was done absolutely appropriately," said John Truscott.

As for Fakhouri, Truscott says he only became a stakeholder after the county offered it federal funds, and disclosed it in an annual filing.

"Once that interest was granted to him, that's when he filed the disclosure," Truscott said.

But records show Fakhouri wasn't complete in his disclosure. In 2010, he said that he had a "passive minority" ownership in a nameless Inkster property, but not say what it was.

18-months later, he disclosed its name. By then, Boji already sold the building to the Wayne County Building Authority.

"He had no responsibilities with economic development and no responsibilities with any of the work that was being done through the HUD project," said Economic Development Chief Ray Byers.

"He had no decision making authority whatsoever."

That may all be true, but if Fakhouri really had nothing to do with the project, why did he attend the building's ribbon cutting? A picture obtained by 7 Action News shows Fakhouri joined his brother-in-law, Ficano and others on stage.

"Do you know where Nader is now?" asked Ross Jones.

"I have no idea," Byers responded.

"Want to take a guess?" Jones asked.

"At home," Byers said.

Not exactly. He left the Ficano administration last year, and was hired by the Boji Group. The website says he's overseeing projects valued at up to several hundred million dollars.

"Isn't is a little odd that the company this guy is suspected of helping turns around and hires him shortly after he's out of work?" Jones asked.

"They hired him for his I.T. expertise," Truscott said.

"It just so happens his expertise fits with this, and he's obviously someone they're familiar with."

HUD also alleges that Boji made too much money on the deal, but the county and Boji both dispute that.

7 Action News has learned that Fakhouri did recuse himself from a Wayne County Economic Development meeting when the building project came up in discussion, but didn't say why.

Ficano's spokeswoman believes that the county won't have to pay back the $850,000 grant, even though HUD hasn't changed its stance.

Fakhouri would not say how much he made on this deal, but said in an unrelated deposition that he reported about $800,000 in income for the year of the sale.

Contact Investigator Ross Jones at rjones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:34 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Construction of new DHS building using local contractors ...


seeandbseen.org/2011/06/23/construction-of-new-dhs-building-using...

More than 20 percent of the construction site workers are Flint residents, and six of the 22 contractors are based in the city, project manager Ron Boji said.


Construction of new DHS building using local contractors

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Patrick Hayes


Construction is underway on a new Department of Human Services building on Clio Road in Flint and Mayor Dayne Walling held a press conference at the site this week to discuss both the importance of redevelopment projects all over Flint and the importance of creating local jobs.


“One of the reasons we love to see redevelopment in the city of Flint is because it means jobs,” Walling said. “It means jobs for our local contractors, it means jobs for our local workers and this project has made a very important commitment to utilizing local contractors and local workers.”

More than 20 percent of the construction site workers are Flint residents, and six of the 22 contractors are based in the city, project manager Ron Boji said.

“The No. 1 item to the city of Flint is jobs, jobs and jobs,” Boji said.

Work began at the site on Feb. 15 and is scheduled for completion by Oct. 1.

You can watch the video of Walling’s press conference here.

Patrick Hayes will be guest blogging at Flint on Full in place of Jared Field through June 23. E-mail him at phayes(at)kettering.edu or follow him on Twitter.
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:39 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Wayne County rejects contract extension for company involved in probe

5:39 PM, April 4, 2013


By John Wisely

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer


Wayne County commissioners unanimously rejected a no-bid contract extension today for a company connected with the corruption probe of county government.


Sheriff Benny Napoleon sought a two-year extension worth $78,692 for United Custom Distribution, part of the Boji Group. The contract was to provide Kit Kats, M&Ms and other candies and snacks to the commissary at the Wayne County Jail, which resells them to inmates.


The Boji Group was one of 14 companies named in grand jury subpoenas in October 2011 as part of a federal probe of corruption in county government. The subpoenas were issued to Wayne County seeking all communications with the Boji Group.


The Boji Group has not been accused of any wrongdoing.


The sheriff’s office proposed a two-year extension, but the public safety committee asked to reduce it to a one-year deal.


“I’d rather see it bid out,” Commissioner Ilona Varga, D-Lincoln Park, said at the committee hearing last month.


Suzanne Hall, director of administration for the sheriff’s office, told the committee at the time: “We don’t really care who the vendor is, we just want the product.”


The contract, first approved in 2009, went to Motor City Distributors, a St. Clair Shores company that was later acquired by the Boji Group, according to a county commission analysis. When the contract was proposed again today as a two-year deal, commissioners followed Varga’s recommendation and rejected it.


Hall said the department hopes to bring back the contract later this month as a one-year deal.


The Boji family, which runs the Boji Group, has been active in county politics for years. Nader Fakhouri, an assistant county executive who served as County Executive Robert Ficano’s top political money man before leaving county government last year, is married to the former Janeen Boji.


Her brother, Ron Boji, has hosted Ficano fundraisers at his West Bloomfield home and has contributed to Sheriff Benny Napoleon.


Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com
Post Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:43 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
The agents also demanded documents about Fakhouri, who left the county in 2012. He was Ficano’s chief fundraiser, helping the executive build one of the state’s wealthiest political fundraising machines. Fakhouri returned to work for Ficano’s most recent campaign and was constantly at his side on election night.

Fakhouri now works for the Boji Group, a Lansing development company owned by his brother-in-law, Ron Boji. He is a reliable campaign contributor to Ficano and his company was named in a 2011 subpoena because it was among the companies that had a seat on the board of Mullin’s economic development nonprofit.

When Fakhouri worked for the county, he had a stake in a building in Inkster the Boji Group sold to the county’s Building Authority for $7 million in 2010. He disclosed his interest after the sale.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If I remember correctly, Boji allowed specific council people to submit lthe names .of local minority contactors for use as sub-contractors
Post Thu Jul 14, 2016 9:45 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

In a December letter, HUD officials asked the county to return $850,000 in grant money because of Boji's strong ties to then Assistant County CEO Nader Fakhouri.

Fakhouri, who is Boji's brother-in-law, received a 20% stake in the building Boji was paid to construct. The Wayne County Commission, which had to sign off on the project, didn't know about Fakhouri's stake in the building either.

"We've never received any paperwork that shows Nader Fakhouri had an interest in this," Commissioner Kevin McNamara said.

"It would have raised a huge red flag."

HUD issued their own red flag, deeming it a "conflict of interest" and saying Fakhouri was "…in a position to potentially influence funding…" that went to him and his family.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yet in Flint, even the Ombudsman office under Purifoy overlooked non-disclosure of Flint Council members. These issues hurt Flint financially and image wise.
Post Thu Jul 14, 2016 9:50 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

on Boji and the Boji Group: Data and Deceit
Posted by XLFD on August 18, 2013 at 10:18am in Waving the Torch Around Our AreaView Discussions
The Boji Man Will Get You if You Don't Watch Out



Ron Boji, the front man for the proposed State Data Center located right here in Mason County, just north of the pumped storage reservoir, seems to be either a confidence-man or just a barefaced liar. But this will be brought up in detail at the end of this article, there is a lot more that needs to be said about this deal-maker and his group. The Ludington Torch has made the local area aware that the Boji Group does not seem to be a very ethical group in this past piece some-data-behind-the-new-data-center-proposed-by-the-boji-group. Most of the dirt on this company and its principals were dug up by impressive investigative reports made by Detroit-area news outlet WXYZ's Ross Jones and Fox 2 News' Charlie Le Duff. From the former in a recent June 6, 2013 article:

Nader Fakhouri, Ron Boji's brother-in-law, looks to have made some money off real estate deals made with State funds, which the State is wanting back. Lansing developer Ron Boji’s company benefited from more than $1.5 million in federal funds to develop the sprawling Inkster Marketplace along Michigan Avenue.

In a December letter, HUD officials asked the county to return $850,000 in grant money because of Boji’s strong ties to then Assistant County CEO Nader Fakhouri.

Fakhouri, who is Boji’s brother-in-law, received a 20% stake in the building Boji was paid to construct. The Wayne County Commission, which had to sign off on the project, didn’t know about Fakhouri’s stake in the building either.

“We’ve never received any paperwork that shows Nader Fakhouri had an interest in this,” Commissioner Kevin McNamara said.

“It would have raised a huge red flag.”

HUD issued their own red flag, deeming it a “conflict of interest” and saying Fakhouri was “…in a position to potentially influence funding…” that went to him and his family.



More at: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/ex-ficano-ai...

Fakhouri You

Let's remember, that when Nader Fakhouri resigned in disgrace from his public job, he was quickly hired by the Boji Group, and given a bio that glosses over his past public official foibles or any mention that he wound up taking the Fifth to shield some of his involvements. As further pointed out by WXYZ's Ross Jones:



This would reflect a culture of corruption embraced by Nader Fakhouri, a principle of the Boji Group and brother-in-law to Ron Boji. E-mails from 2011 and before show how he expected county vendors to write large checks to County Chief Executive Ficano’s campaign war chest.

In an e-mail Fakhouri sent to another appointee in 2009, he writes about “preliminary numbers” for what he thinks county vendors should give to Ficano’s campaign fund:

-$25,000 each from Secure 24, AT&T, Open Text, Strategic Business Partners and Strategic Staffing Solutions

-$15,000 from CATS Co.

-$10,000 from Sync Technologies, ASG Renaissance and CISCO

-and $5,000 from Peter Chang Enterprises and Optech

It’s not clear if all those vendors were solicited, but several of them later gave to Ficano’s PAC. A vendor not wishing to be identified said: “It’s disgusting that they’re going after vendors like that…I just don’t think it’s proper.”

Campaign finance expert Rich Robinson says when vendors are leaned on for contributions, it’s common for them to factor that cost into their next county bid.

"It's a world where there is corruption of dependence," Robinson said.

"You end up with kind of a political tax rolled into it, because I don’t think the vendor says, well, we’ll squeeze this out of our profits this year," he said.

Other e-mails show that campaign work is often required of appointees. In one from last May sent by JoAnn Abdenour, Fakhouri’s fundraising deputy, she ordered department heads to attend a meeting for the upcoming Ficano Gala, a campaign fundraiser at Ford Field.

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/obtained-by-...

Sweet Deals Vended Without Bid

The Boji Group's influence in Wayne County extends even into relatively minor contracts that public officials decide to issue to them without any competitive bids this year. This is particularly cocky when the feds have a grand jury looking into the involvement of the Boji Group with past deals

Wayne County commissioners unanimously rejected a no-bid contract extension Thursday for a company connected with the corruption probe of county government.

Sheriff Benny Napoleon sought a two-year extension worth $78,692 for United Custom Distribution, part of the Boji Group. The contract was to provide Kit Kats, M&Ms and other candies and snacks to the commissary at the Wayne County Jail, which resells them to inmates.

The Boji Group was one of 14 companies named in grand jury subpoenas in October 2011 as part of a federal probe of corruption in county government. The subpoenas were issued to Wayne County seeking all communications with the Boji Group.

The Wayne County Sheriff's Office proposed a two-year extension, but the public safety committee asked to reduce it to a one-year deal.

"I'd rather see it bid out," Commissioner Ilona Varga, D-Lincoln Park, said at the committee hearing last month.

Suzanne Hall, director of administration for the Sheriff's Office, told the committee at the time: "We don't really care who the vendor is; we just want the product."

The contract, first approved in 2009, went to Motor City Distributors, a St. Clair Shores company that the Boji Group acquired later, according to a county commission analysis. When the contract was proposed again Thursday as a two-year deal, commissioners followed Varga's recommendation and rejected it.

Hall said Thursday that the department hopes to bring back the contract later this month as a one-year deal.

The Boji family, which runs the Boji Group, has been active in county politics for years. Nader Fakhouri, an assistant county executive who served as County Executive Robert Ficano's top political money man before leaving county government last year, is married to the former Janeen Boji.

Her brother, Ron Boji, has hosted Ficano fund-raisers at his West Bloomfield home and contributed to Napoleon.

The Boji Group has not been accused of any wrongdoing."





You'll notice in the comments that courageous Councilor Varga says: "I did research and this was not even a contract, it was a purchase order from 2009. Need I say more? The Sheriff was not at our meeting, but the director who works for him was there. The document request originated and signed off by the Sheriff department. Let's remember that the Commission's documents are public records that people can examine for facts. I am sure the Commissary had started the request back in 2009 and last year - it was over 190 days late - and never thought that it would be a problem. Nothing personal, just bad process. Commissary is under the Sheriff's budget even though they act independently. Must have been a misunderstanding between staff. John Wisely did get it right actually, and I just had to respond about the misrepresentation statement mentioned in the comments by a staff person."

http://www.freep.com/article/20130405/NEWS02/304050074/Company-will...



The Con-Man at the End of This Story



At the beginning of this article, I stated that Ron Boji, not his brother-in-law or business, was a confidence man and/or someone who is telling us a big fib. Either that or the Managing Editor of the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews), Steve Begnoche, printed something that was totally fictitious, which seems unlikely in the context.



In this July 27, 2013 COLDNews article discussing a revisit to the area by Ron Boji to explain the disposition of the proposed project, it has him making the following claim, after giving out quite a bit of information on the five other competitors :



Having done my own share of FOIA requests, it seemed unlikely that the MEDC would be so free with divulging the bulk of the information he alluded to with someone, especially someone who is vying for the prize. So, being that MEDC is mostly publicly-funded and capable of being FOIA-requested, I sent my own request seeking any such FOIA request made by Ron Boji concerning the proposed State Data Center on July 28, and received the following on July 31, telling me that no such record existed: 2013.07.31 Denial Letter.pdf.



Since they seemed to paraphrase my original request to leave out other options, I resubmitted an 'amended' FOIA request asking: "Has there been any FOIA Requests from any representative of the Boji Group or any other 'persons' inquiring about the various proposals for the new State of Michigan Data Center? If so, please send those written requests (not the content of the request) via electronic files to this E-mail address. If not, please send me a denial." And earlier today, they did:







This suggests that Mr. Boji did not get his information from the proper channels, as nobody is on record for doing a FOIA request to get that information. As noted in the prior article, Ron Boji was appointed to the 11 member Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) Board in January 2013 by Governor Snyder, the MSF and the MEDC have the following relationship (noted here):



The Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) was created under P.A. 270 of 1984 as an autonomous entity to assist in promoting economic development in the State. The MSF's authority was expanded by Executive Order 1999-1, which transferred into the Fund all the State-funded economic development programs and created it as a State agency. These agreements provided for the formation of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), which is also an autonomous entity. The MSF transfers the majority of its appropriated State funds and employees to the MEDC.





Ergo, the MSF Board which Ron Boji has been appointed to as a public servant bankrolls and mostly mans the MEDC, which is handling the proposals at this time before the Governor gets their report and a decision is made, and will likely fund the eventual project at least in part (with MSF dollars). Yet, somehow Mr. Boji has got information about other proposals from the MEDC without benefit of a FOIA request through their FOIA Coordinator, in direct conflict in what he said, as reported in the July 27 newspaper article.



All of this interweaving of pecuniary (money) interests of Ron Boji (as he stands to benefit greatly if the data center is placed here) and the appearance of some insider knowledge passed along to him by the agency his agency funds should raise a red flag. One could infer that he is attempting to use his or her position as a member of the board to influence a decision regarding a loan, grant, investment, or other expenditure under this act to his business, a misconduct in office as per MCL 125.2006(3), or just as a conflict of interest (section 4,5 of the same law).



Furthermore, he could be perceived as falling short in the following subsections of Standards of Conduct for Public Officials:

5) A public officer or employee shall not engage in a business transaction in which the public officer or employee may profit from his or her official position or authority or benefit financially from confidential information which the public officer or employee has obtained or may obtain by reason of that position or authority.

7) A public officer or employee shall not participate in the negotiation or execution of contracts, making of loans, granting of subsidies, fixing of rates, issuance of permits or certificates, or other regulation or supervision relating to a business entity in which the public officer or employee has a financial or personal interest.



Somehow, Ron Boji has gotten information regarding his competitors without benefit of a FOIA request and is using that information to better his chances at receiving state funding indirectly from money that he has some control over doling out. He has apparently lied at a public forum about how he got the information, some of which sounds confidential and/or from an inside source.



When we add that to all the questionable history of the Boji Group in Wayne County and his fellow Boji Group frontman and brother-in-law Nader Fakhouri, the ongoing investigations, a lot of red flags emerge. Our county leaders and their business partnerships would love to get this data center here, and they undoubtedly would bend over backwards in their efforts to do so. But should we deal with a man and a company ran by this man who cannot only tell us of his own pecuniary stake in the data center or the truth about how he got his information? Or do we trust in glibness, while the county coffers are raided to encourage this partnership Mr. Boji envisions?







Epilogue: A Couple of Calls for Public Accountability



Let me append this article by saying that personally, I think the data center proposed would be a benefit to the area's economy, and see nothing wrong with it if all the public officials involved with this public project play according to the rules and according to the benefits of the public, and if public and private interests are separated like we would have us separate the church and the State. That isn't likely going to happen with all the talk of partnerships and the appearance of improprieties we see just on this proposal's veneer.



But there are other arguments put against this data center by those who would be directly affected by the project, dealing with the problems that won't generally be aired at one of these Ron Boji evangelicals, such as these raised by Constance Anderson a few months back in the Daily News Reader's Opinions piece, which was downplayed by the editors in a less than convincing way in an Editor's note thereafter.



.
▶ Reply
Permalink Reply by XLFD on December 18, 2013 at 3:43pm
No big surprise here, Ron Boji announced in a letter made public to the local newspaper that the State Data Center will not go in near the Pump Storage Facility, and actually it won't go anywhere. He said the following in his letter (which keeps things general enough to make you go "Sure thing, buddy.", but makes our 'economic development' crowd legs tingle):

"Over the course of this past year we have worked extensively with an ever increasing local and regional support coalition of elected officials, governmental units, area organizations and the business community to build support for our efforts to win selection by the State of Michigan for a new State Data Center that would be located adjacent to the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant, the Great Lakes Technology Park (GLTP).

The depth and breadth of that support has been remarkable and for that we want to express our sincere thanks. We are writing today to inform you about the latest developments in the State process and to explain what we believe it will mean for the GLTP project.

The State of Michigan has informed Data Center project bidders within the last few days that they are formally withdrawing the Request For Proposal (RFP) for the Data Center. Initially this was disappointing news for our GLTP team and no doubt for all of our supporters also.

However, we have received some additional information regarding future State intentions, and secondly we have begun investigating the potential to move forward with the GLTP project independent of the State.

As a result, we remain committed to the effort and want to update you on the rest of the story.

First, while the State has indicated it does not currently plan to pursue a new base Data Center site in the immediate future, they have indicated a desire to move forward with a secondary disaster recovery site in the near term and emphasized the desire to locate that resource some distance from their existing facilities in the Lansing area.

We believe the Ludington site will meet the State’s criteria. More importantly, our GLTP team has heard from the business and economic development audience we engaged with during the past year that the need for a technology center in West Michigan that could serve a wide variety of business and e-commerce needs is real and growing.

While we will continue to pursue the potential State development, it is this latter market that perhaps offers the greatest potential and on which we are now focusing our efforts.

As we work to retool our approach and objectives it is too soon to say exactly how we might proceed, but we can assure you that this change in direction by the State does not in any way diminish the attributes that won our support for the Ludington site to begin with and continues to have us believing it is the right place and this is the right time for the GLTP project. Not least among those attributes is the local and regional support that we alluded to above. We will continue to need your strong and enthusiastic support."

Welcome to
The Ludington Torch
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