Yeah, but he’s a nice, friendly, smiling crook.
Langford himself doesn’t “get” or maybe accept that what he did was wrong. He thinks it was ok to take money because it didn’t influence him, so it wasn’t a bribe.
The guy is delusional. Public people can’t take gifts from people they send business to - it is a bribe.
November 18, 2009
JPMorgan & Ex-Mayor Langford Sued for Sewer Bond Fraud in Alabama
The 23-page lawsuit asserts the financing deals — a series of bond refinancings and interest-rate swap deals — increased the county’s sewer bond debt by millions and exposed the county “to an unconscionable degree” of financial risk. “The financial and reputational damages incurred by the county from the defendants’ conduct are in the billions of dollars,” says the lawsuit.
In order to settle the SEC suit targeting illegal activity in sewer financing deals, JP Morgan agreed last week to pay $75 million in penalties — including a $50 million cash payment to the county — and forfeit $647 million in swap-termination fees from the county.
County officials claim that it wasn’t until the SEC lawsuit and Langford’s criminal trial in October that they realized the extent of the “bribes, kickbacks and payoffs” in the bond and swap deals between JPMorgan and the county, as they said in the suit.