Federal prosecutors have unsealed an indictment accusing former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh of using her series of self-published children’s books to commit fraud, evade federal taxes and illegally boost her own political campaigns, according to Bobby Allyn at NPR… Support our news coverage by subscribing to our Kindle Nation Daily Digest. Joining is free right now!
Catherine Pugh, 69, resigned in May after public outcry over a scandal involving hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Healthy Holly books that she sold to a nonprofit health care company. She was on the board of that company when she was a state senator, raising questions about self-dealing — and even about the existence of the books, which feature a young black girl who touts the benefits of nutrition and exercise. After Pugh was paid, thousands of books apparently were never delivered.
The 11-count federal indictment made public Wednesday reveals a fuller picture of what the government says was a scheme in which she collected payments from the books to line her own pocket, donate to her own political campaign and even buy a house. At the same time, authorities say, customers waited around for Healthy Holly books that never arrived.
Pugh now stands accused of federal crimes including multiple counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion.
“Fraud and corruption of the sort we are addressing today undermine the public’s faith in public officials,” Robert Hur, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, told reporters Wednesday in Baltimore. “This is a tragedy and the last thing that our city needs.”
Prosecutors also announced that two of Pugh’s associates, former city employees Gary Brown Jr. and Roslyn Wedington, have accepted plea deals.
Brown, 38, admitted to crimes including wire fraud for cashing checks that he said Pugh wrote to him for the children’s books, then using the money to pay down Pugh’s debt and make political donations to her. Prosecutors say Brown then tried to cover the ruse by filing false documents to the Internal Revenue Service.
Pugh and Brown, according to the indictment, secretly moved tens of thousands of dollars from the book sales to her political campaign under other peoples’ names — what prosecutors call “straw donations” — in an alleged attempt to make it appear as if the money was flowing from other sources.
Read full post on NPR