FBI and IRS agents raided the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh on Thursday — amid calls she resign over her shady children’s book sales.
The blitz on Pugh’s home indicated publicly for the first time that she’s being investigated by the feds, as well as by the Maryland Office of the State Prosecutor.
Authorities are looking into lucrative sales of Pugh’s “Healthy Holly” series to the University of Maryland Medical System while she was on their unpaid board of directors.
The investigation that led to Thursday’s raids began more than a year ago, sources told The Baltimore Sun.
Pugh, 69, has been on an indefinite leave of absence since April 1, when calls for a state probe into her began.
She claimed then that she was taking time off to recover from a bout of pneumonia.
She claimed then that she was taking time off to recover from a bout of pneumonia.
The Democrat was at home at the time of the raids. Sources told local outlet WJZ that she has since left Maryland.
As agents hauled out boxes of “Healthy Holly” books and documents from Pugh’s home, Gov. Larry Hogan called for Pugh to step down.
“Mayor Pugh has lost the public trust,” the Republican governor tweeted. “She is clearly not fit to lead. For the good of the city, Mayor Pugh must resign.”
Hogan directed the state’s prosecutor on April 1 to begin a probe into Pugh’s “questionable dealings.”
Besides Hogan, the Baltimore City Council, Baltimore lawmakers in the House of Delegates and the Great Baltimore Committee, a business group, have also called for Pugh’s resignation.
The feds also executed search warrants at the office of Pugh’s lawyer, Steven Silverman, City Hall, the Maryland Center for Adult Training, whose job program Pugh once ran, and the home of an aide, the FBI confirmed.
Silverman said agents served a subpoena to his office for Pugh’s financial records. “We will continue to vigorously defend the mayor,” he told the Washington Post.
The health provider paid $500,000 to buy 100,000 copies of the book from Pugh’s company, Healthy Holly LLC, in a no-bid arrangement between 2011 and 2018.
Pugh apologized that she had “done something to upset the people,” returned $100,000 to the health-care system and canceled a book deal. She has also stepped down from the board.
Another health-care provider, Kaiser Permanente, confirmed to The Baltimore Sun this month that it had paid Pugh $114,000 for 20 copies of her book between 2015 and 2018 while the company was trying to get a contract from the city.
Kaiser was awarded a $48 million contract in 2017 to provide heath benefits to city workers by a spending board on which Pugh sits.
Pugh did not comment and her spokesman said he hasn’t talked to her.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.