Friday, June 19, 2015

The FBI is continuing to investigate who from Cincinnati and elsewhere might be involved in a bribery scheme that already is sending the CEO of RedFlex, a red-light camera company, to jail.

FBI: Investigation ongoing in red-light bribery case

The FBI is continuing to investigate who from Cincinnati and elsewhere might be involved in a bribery scheme that already is sending the CEO of a red-light camera company to jail.

 

Elected officials in Cincinnati and Columbus asked for campaign contributions in exchange for attempting to get the red light cameras approved.

The investigation into who on Cincinnati City Council might have attempted to receive bribes from a company trying to install red-light cameras in the city is continuing, FBI officials said Friday.

That disclosure came after it was announced Friday that the former head of an Arizona-based red light camera company pleaded guilty to an eight-year bribery and fraud scheme – a scheme that included "elected public officials" in Cincinnati, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release.

Karen Finley, 55, of Cave Creek, Arizona, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District Ohio.

The U.S. headquarters of Redflex are in north Phoenix, and several municipalities in Arizona have contracts with the company. It is the subsidiary of an Australian company. 

Finley separated from the company following a similar scandal in Chicago that came to light amid a 2012 investigation by the Chicago Tribune. The current President/CEO is James Saunders. 

Cincinnati FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren said Friday that the local investigation was "ongoing," but referred to the public documents released as part of the plea deal.

According to the release, Finley admitted that between 2005 and 2013 "she participated in a scheme in which the company made campaign contributions to elected public officials in the cities of Columbus and Cincinnati through a consultant retained by the company."

That included possible contributions of up to $30,000 total for officials in both cities as well as more contributions to the Ohio Democratic Party, the documents say.

In exchange, the release said, those election officials would help the company get contracts for photo red light enforcement. The release did not name the Cincinnati officials involved. A search of the city's campaign finance database shows no direct contribution from Finley to any candidate between 2005 and 2013.

City Council voted against moving forward on red light cameras in February 2005, although city officials and council members still tried to resurrect the idea several times. Those voting for keeping the program alive included current Mayor John Cranley, and former Councilmen David Crowley, David Pepper, Christopher Smitherman and Jim Tarbell.

The Enquirer is attempting to reach all of them and will update with their comments.

Former Councilman Jeff Berding pushed further for red light cameras while serving on council 2005-11, saying in an interview with The Enquirer Friday that it was a to generate revenue and avoid police layoffs.
He said he did nothing wrong during that time, but was cooperating with the investigation.
"I thought it was a good idea ... but as you know, we ended up not doing it," said Berding, now vice president of sales and marketing for the Cincinnati Bengals.
"I was just recently made aware of the investigation. I am cooperating with investigators and will continue to do so, but since it's a pending criminal investigation, I've been asked not to say anything more."

The concept was finally killed in 2008 when Cincinnati voters passed a city charter amendment banning such cameras.

Ohio state Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, called Friday for all cities involved with the practice to refund any collected money from such red light cameras.
"I call on the cities to apologize and dismiss their lawsuit," said Seitz, who has led the effort to outlaw red light cameras, including recent action to reduce state tax dollars going to local government funds by the amount of the fines. Seitz also sponsored the bill that effectively gutted the concept.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Friday that current Columbus City Council President Andrew Ginther was part of the investigation, receiving contributions as part of the improper checks sent to the state Democratic Party.

Both Cincinnati and Columbus investigated the possibility of installing cameras that would photograph license plates of vehicles that ran red lights, and then automatically issue tickets to those offenders. Cincinnati City Council wound up voting against such an operation, although Columbus did install a system that operated from 2006 until earlier this year.

It stopped because the Ohio Legislature passed a law in late 2014 requiring that a police officer be physically present whenever a citation was issued. Still, Columbus was trying to collect on unpaid violations as of this month, the Dispatch reported, and several cities have sued against the law in a case that is making its way through the state court system.

The Justice Department documents say the scheme worked this way:

Elected officials in Cincinnati and Columbus asked for campaign contributions in exchange for attempting to get the red light cameras approved. This was done to an unnamed consultant for Redflex, who then went to the company's unnamed vice president of sales. The final approval for such donations came from Finley, according to the documents, and the money was funneled through the consultant.

The documents allege that the company then falsely changed receipts and other documentation to try and cover its tracks.

"In return for campaign contributions that the elected public officials received and attempted to receive, the elected public officials agreed to perform, attempted to perform and actually performed official acts that benefitted Finley," and her company and others not specifically named in the complaint.