Posted on 05/03/2002 9:17:06 PM PDT by Jean S
At least two county supervisors and two county pension officials were issued grand jury subpoenas this week to testify in May, several county sources confirmed.
The FBI took an interest in the pension package several weeks ago, according to county Supervisor Robert Krug, who said Friday he had been interviewed by a federal agent.
The federal probe is the second criminal investigation into the pension enhancements proposed by the Ament administration and approved by the County Board for most county employees, including elected officials, in 2000 and 2001. When the generosity of the benefits became widely known in January, Ament was driven from office by a massive recall movement, and citizens started 13 recall drives against elected supervisors.
The state Justice Department also has been investigating for several months.
The two subpoenaed supervisors, Lynne DeBruin and Krug, voted against the pension deal. They are not targets of the investigation, only witnesses, according to a letter from the U.S. attorney's office attached to their subpoenas, they said.
County Pension Board Chairman Jeremiah Hegarty received a similar letter and subpoena, Hegarty said Friday. A fourth subpoena went to an employee in the county retirement system office, sources said.
Hegarty said he didn't know why he was subpoenaed or what federal prosecutors were pursuing, other than that it related to the pension deal.
"I'll tell them whatever I know," Hegarty said. "I'll answer their questions honestly," just as he did for state Justice Department investigators, he said. The county Pension Board did not propose or approve the pension deal; it is responsible for managing the county's $1.5 billion pension fund.
Hegarty said he would not consult a lawyer before he goes to testify before the grand jury May 14.
"I don't need a lawyer," he said.
His subpoena letter said: "A federal grand jury in Milwaukee has convened an investigation of possible violations of federal law . . . in connection with the awarding of pension benefits to certain Milwaukee County employees."
DeBruin also said she was summoned to appear May 14. Krug declined to reveal his appearance date.
Neither the exact focus of the pension investigation nor its primary targets were immediately clear Friday.
The Wisconsin attorney general's office is conducting its own separate criminal investigation into the pension affair but has not yet issued its findings. State agents have interviewed county supervisors and union officials as recently as last month.
Neither Attorney General Jim Doyle nor interim U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic returned phone calls seeking comment on their investigations.
County supervisors have acknowledged poor oversight in approving the pension changes, which led to six-figure lump-sum payouts and a rush of retirements after supervisors debated rescinding pension and sick-pay improvements. Supervisors, backed by a county audit, have blamed county department heads, particularly former Human Resources Director Gary Dobbert, for failing to provide the plan's true costs.
Dobbert, contacted Friday, defended his handling of information on the pension package and said he knew nothing of the federal investigation.
"What would be criminal here?" Dobbert said. "This was all done in the open. The board had all the documents."
Dobbert criticized the recent county audit, saying it was suspect because the county auditor reports to the County Board.
Dobbert and other key Ament aides promoted the pension enhancements as a way to reach settlements with county employee unions with only small wage increases.
Ament, responding to intense public reaction in January, initially stood by Dobbert and others who formulated and lobbied for the plan. But in mid-January, saying they had failed to fully inform him and the County Board, Ament forced out Dobbert and county labor negotiator Henry Zielinski and called for the removal of Corporation Counsel Robert Ott, who retired soon after. Ament's chief of staff, Thomas Mollan, also retired.
Ott said he hadn't been subpoenaed and wasn't aware of the federal investigation. If called, he'll cooperate, Ott said.
"My involvement was nothing more than making sure the ordinances were in the proper legal form," Ott said. Some supervisors have accused Ott of lobbying them to vote for the pension enhancements.
Zielinski, reached by phone late Friday, declined to comment.
Citing the subpoena letter, DeBruin said: "I am not a target of the investigation, only an informational witness."
She said would cooperate fully and was pleased with the federal interest. "They will either prosecute or not," DeBruin said. "We'll at least know. The attorney general's investigation seemed to have died in the water."
Krug confirmed receipt of an identical letter saying he was not a target.
He said he was told by an FBI agent that pension fraud investigations were among the bureau's top priorities nationally.
County Board Chairman Karen Ordinans said she first learned of the subpoenas Friday afternoon from DeBruin.
"If this is a step that can bring us a step closer to resolution of the pension controversy, I welcome it," she said.
Dobbert said Ordinans was well aware of the pension package details and had all the information she needed early on to figure out the big potential payouts under the plan.
Ordinans has said supervisors were misled.
The federal subpoenas refer to three federal anti-fraud statutes that conceivably could apply to the personal enrichment of government officials in the course of their public duties. Prosecutors would have to prove fraud and criminal intent, no small task in the context of a pension deal that was approved in public on several occasions, legal observers said.
"In a governmental situation the (prosecutors) have a significant burden to separate ordinary political activity from criminal political activity," said defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Stephen Kravit.
DeBruin said she hired Kravit to advise her on the grand jury appearance.
I didn't hear anything about a first investigation. You posted the link on the WI page, I hope someone can fill in that detail.
I think they were referring to Doyle's investigation. That was a joke.
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