Here it is, from former Miami writer Tony Doris, for the Palm Beach Post: "Expanded FBI staff targeting corruption" related to land deals. Why can't we read a story like this, in The Miami Herald?
"The FBI official overseeing the bureau's corruption probes in Palm Beach County says his newly buttressed staff is keeping busy with "good, corroborated allegations," many centered on land deals."
Tony, you made our day-- except that Palm Beach took six FBI agents from Miami. I hope that DOJ replaced them with 60.
....
"Everyone is actively engaged," said Timothy Delaney, assistant special agent in charge of white-collar crime from Key West to Vero Beach.
The FBI this year shifted six agents and one supervisory position from Miami to West Palm Beach, most of them to investigate public corruption, the office's top priority, he said. That gives the office 16 agents focused on white-collar crime, including corruption, cyber crime and health-care fraud, he said.
Whereas white-collar crime investigators typically follow the money, the shift in manpower stems from an effort to follow land deals, he said. Unlike Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Palm Beach still has a lot of farmland and other open tracts, and much of the area's corruption is tied to development-related transactions, Delaney said.
Since 2006, federal prosecutors have won guilty pleas from two county commissioners, two West Palm Beach city commissioners and a power broker attorney, mostly for acts related to real estate. That prompted the increase in investigative staff.
The current real estate slowdown has had no effect on the level of corruption investigations, Delaney said.
"If you see a thread and pull it out," more and more may emerge, Delaney said. "We're in that mode."
The additional staff also allows the bureau to do more public speaking and other community outreach, which in turn encourages people to come forward and report corruption that they otherwise might just see as a normal and intractable part of doing business, Delaney added.
"Having more agents allows us to get more access to communities."
Tips also come in from people arrested for crimes unrelated to corruption - drug charges, for instance - in hopes their help will result in lighter sentences, he said.
In pursuing public corruption, the bureau does not limit itself to investigating public officials, but also probes others involved in the crimes, he said.
With most classes of crime, such as mortgage or credit card fraud, the FBI can decline to investigate a case. But federal authorities in South Florida place such a high priority on public corruption that the bureau is required to investigate "every instance," unless the U.S. Attorney's Office determines otherwise, Delaney said.
He encouraged anyone with evidence of public corruption to report it. "We take corruption investigations very seriously," Delaney said.
Delaney's comments echo those U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta made at recent speaking engagements. With the convictions of former County Commissioners Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell and former West Palm Beach City Commissioners Ray Liberti and Jim Exline under his belt, Acosta vowed earlier this month to press on with public corruption prosecutions.
"We are continuing to pursue and prosecute these types of cases," Acosta told hundreds of lawyers at the annual Palm Beach County Bar Association's bench-bar conference.
Find this article at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/10/21/s1c_FBI_1021.html
2 comments:
Confusing article: does that mean there are less white collar agents in Miami? or, how many are there in Miami, working on real estate fraud and public corruption?
Why don't some of you people who have some knowledge that our public officials are criminals report the suspicion to Delaney and he says they will investigate it?
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