Tagged: Highland Park schools

Highland Park School Board member and union activist Robert Davis was indicted last month on charges of theft by federal prosecutors.

They accused Davis of stealing more than $125,000 from the ailing Highland Park school district.

Today, more details emerged from the indictment.

Robert Snell of the Detroit News reports on "newly unsealed federal court records" the paper obtained.

The records allege Davis controlled a bogus nonprofit group, "Citizens United to Save Highland Park Schools." The feds say Davis used the group's bank account for "an $84,000 spending spree at car dealerships, hotels, bars, restaurants and a custom-clothing store."

From The Detroit News:

The financial information was included in an FBI search warrant affidavit requesting permission to raid Davis' home in Highland Park last year.

The affidavit does not specify which car dealerships were patronized. But Davis paid a St. Clair Shores dealership $21,450 for a used silver Mercedes-Benz CLK320 coupe in May 2009, according to the Secretary of State.

That's at the height of the time Davis was stealing money from the school district, according to federal prosecutors.

The sixteen-count indictment says Davis stole the school district's money between 2004 and 2010. If convicted, he faces the possibility of 10 years in prison on each of the counts of the indictment.

Davis made headlines before the indictment was made public by successfully winning a court battle against the state's financial review teams for violating the Open Meetings Act.

Davis has maintained his innocence and his lawyer did not offer a comment on the newly unsealed records, telling the News he had not seen them yet.

"Opening Day" for Detroit

In a media roundtable in Detroit yesterday, State Treasurer Andy Dillon compared the day after Detroit City Council approved a consent agreement with the state with the home opener for the Detroit Tigers taking place nearby, "This is opening day in more ways than one for the city of Detroit," he said.

The next order of business for the city is to fill new positions called for the in the consent agreement. From the Detroit Free Press:

Mayor Dave Bing now has six days to create the positions of the city's chief financial officer and program management director and 30 days after that to hire the people for the positions... At the same time the state and city are compiling the list for the two top positions, they'll be developing a file of candidates to fill the nine-member financial advisory board, a team of people also with financial backgrounds, who will wield significant power as the city tries to right its finances.

Mayor Bing suffering from two "acute pulmonary embolisms"

Bing returned to the hospital on Wednesday. Yesterday afternoon his office released a statement saying the Mayor was diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolisms in both lungs. A condition that could be life threatening, but his doctor at Henry Ford Hospital said he's recuperating well. Deputy Mayor Kirk Lewis has been acting on the Mayor's behalf. Michigan Radio's Sarah Cwiek reported that Lewis said Mayor Bing "is alert and very involved in the ongoing process to implement the city’s new deal with the state."

“I’m just standing in his shoes right now, until he recovers. But Mayor Dave Bing is clearly the mayor and will be the mayor,” Lewis told reporters Thursday.

Highland Park School Board member calls charges against him "quite suspicious"

Highland Park School Board member and union activist Robert Davis was indicted yesterday on charges of theft by federal prosecutors. They've accused Davis of stealing more than $125,000 from the ailing school district.

Davis successfully won a court battle against the state's financial review teams for violating the Open Meetings Act. At a news conference held last night in his attorney's office, Davis called the timing of the indictment "quite suspicious."

More from the Detroit News:

"It's important for people to know that for the last two years I've been dealing with this particular issue as a result of my political enemies taking this false information to the FBI and to federal authorities," Davis said...

The Highland Park school board member who filed the Open Meetings Act lawsuits against the state's financial review process for Detroit, has been indicted for theft. The U-S Attorney’s office says Robert Davis sent fake bills to the district and stole thousands of dollars.

Davis faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Authorities say between 2004 and 2010, he stole more than $125,000 from the Highland Park School District by using cover companies to submit fake invoices to the district.