both TonyRo76 and LasVegasDave.
Posted on 07/19/2009 4:25:59 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
For four years, Cuyahoga County taxpayers have asked questions about the commissioners' controversial $40 million purchase and renovation of the Ameritrust complex downtown, questions that have grown louder since federal investigators revealed a massive government corruption probe a year ago.
A Plain Dealer review of county records and federal plea agreements shows a lawyer and construction firm accused of paying bribes in several corruption schemes also played key roles in the purchase of the Ameritrust complex.
The Ameritrust deal has been a debacle for the county. The involvement of lawyer Anthony O. Calabrese III and R.P. Carbone Co. in the deal could explain why FBI agents wanted documents related to the Ameritrust purchase when they raided County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora's office last year.
Calabrese and Carbone became involved in the Ameritrust deal through the Staubach Co., a real estate consulting company founded by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach. The commissioners voted unanimously to hire Staubach Co. in 2004 to evaluate downtown properties and recommend a site for a new center of county government.
The county ultimately paid Staubach Co. $3 million for an 11-month stint as a real estate consultant, a fee that real estate professionals say is five times more than the going rate.
Calabrese negotiated Staubach's contract with the county, and Carbone studied renovation ideas and cost estimates.
At the same time Calabrese and Carbone consulted with Staubach, Calabrese and Carbone's then-top executive, Vincent Carbone, collaborated on elaborate schemes to bribe public officials in exchange for construction and lobbying contracts, according to plea agreements filed this month in U.S. District Court.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.cleveland.com ...
C-town is a democrat cesspool! You’ll never find a Republican in a scandal in Cleveland, cuz there aren’t any!
Time to start pushing the Medical Mart issue too.
Raised sales taxes without the vote of the people for that one...and we still have no Mart.
All of Cuyahoga County is, it’s not just Cleveland.
As you read this it’s the “don’t blame me syndrome”. Cleveland Dems are a bunch of azzclowns....let me re-phrase that...ALL DEMS are a bunch of azzclowns!
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