Mayor Larry Langford is accused of bribery and corruption charges related to his stint as President of the Jefferson County Commission and his role in the sewer bond scandal that has brought the county to the brink of the greatest municipal bankruptcy in history.
What is the mayor accused of?
Its pretty straightforward. Starting in 1996 the mayor began to push various deals including a land deal known as Vision Land. Being a man of fine tastes he found his expenses outmatched his revenues, and turned to Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre. Blount would become the underwriter for every bond offering and LaPierre became a vehicle by which Mayor Langford would receive bribes. LaPierre would "lend" money to the Mayor to make everything nice and legal and essentially launder the bribes. In 2006 the SEC began to investigate some of these deals and by December of last year a special federal grand jury in Birmingham returned a 101-count indictment against Langford, the former commission president; Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre. The indictment includes charges of conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering and filing false income tax returns in what prosecutors described as a long-running bribery scheme related to sewer bonds and other Jefferson County financial transactions. It was this sewage deal which might bankrupt the municipality and involves CDR Financial Products Charles LeCroy of J.P Morgan Chase.
The indictment includes charges of conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering and filing false income tax returns in what prosecutors described as a long-running bribery scheme related to sewer bonds and other Jefferson County financial transactions.
In summary the Mayor is the one:
Who is facing 101 counts on corruption and bribery charges
The man who bankrupted Jefferson County Alabama
Helped increase fees on middle and working class people
The man who did it for designer suits and rolex watches.
Mayor Langford's Culture of Corruption.
Who helped J.P Morgan Chase and other Financial Groups overcharge by 100 million in fees Jefferson County.
The same Mayor who has saddled his constituents with a billion dollar debt.
Now Langford was charged with bribery charges over some of these deals, and the details are tawdry to say the least:
Blount showered Langford with expensive clothes, jewelry and watches on shopping sprees when county officials came to New York City to discuss bond and swap deals, the indictment said. Besides designer clothes, he paid for a $12,000 watch at Tourneau.
According to the indictment, Blount transferred $99,000 to LaPierre who then wrote checks to Langford. Blount also helped Langford get a $50,000 loan from Colonial Bank, which LaPierre later paid off, the indictment said. Langford used about $30,000 of the money to pay his taxes.
The federal charges mirror the civil case the SEC brought in April that accused Langford of accepting $156,000 in undisclosed payments from Blount. The SEC said Langford selected Blount’s company for every bond offering and swap agreement in 2003 and 2004.
Langford, Blount and LaPierre have denied the SEC charges and said the agency doesn’t have jurisdiction over swaps. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Wall Street’s lobby, has also argued in a friend-of-the court brief that the SEC doesn’t have authority over the deals.The Jefferson County sewer project, which began following a 1996 environmental consent decree with the federal government, has been bedeviled by corruption that helped push the cost to twice initial estimates.
Receiving Gifts
On Sept. 23, former Jefferson County commissioner Mary Buckelew admitted to lying about receiving $4,000 in gifts from Blount.Former Commissioner Chris McNair, who was in charge of the sewer department, pleaded guilty in 2007 to conspiracy to commit bribery for accepting money from a contractor.
Also that year, former commissioner Gary White was charged with taking more than $40,000 in kickbacks and hunting trips to South Dakota from an engineering company working on the county’s $3 billion sewer program. White was found guilty in January and is appealing.
Langford, a former television reporter, was elected mayor of Birmingham in October 2007 after serving as president of the Jefferson County commission from 2002 to 2006. The mayor, who also has a public relations job for a local Budweiser distributor, has sought to revitalize the former iron and steel center, by building a domed stadium and announcing a bid for the 2020 Olympics.
For the record Buckelew as well as Blount and LaPierre will now be testifying against the Mayor. In regards to the politics, Alice Martin who was considered a top enemy of the netroots was replaced by Joyce White Vance, who promptly recused herself over possible conflicts. In regards to J.P Morgan Chase, they are still dealing with the SEC, an issue that has not been resolved as of yet. With Jefferson County bankruptcy around the corner, perhaps some justice may be done, especially since Bill Richardson and his associates got off scot free.
Mary Buckelew
Mayor Langford
0 comments:
Post a Comment