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Bribery allegations dog Jefferson Parish code inspectors
Source:
nola.com
- Dec 13, 2012
By Drew Broach, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on December 12, 2012
Bribery allegations against some Jefferson Parish building code inspectors are the subject of a criminal investigation by the Sheriff's Office, Parish President John Young said Wednesday. The inquiry grew out of one inspector's arrest in October on charges of injuring public records and malfeasance in office, Parish Councilman Mark Spears Jr. said.
The bribery angle was disclosed at a Parish Council meeting when the panel approved Spears' resolution asking the Young administration what it is doing about allegations that its employees might be on the take. The resolution asks the administration to report to the Governmental Ethics Compliance and Audit Committee, a five-member panel that Spears chairs.
The resolution doesn't name names or provide details of the alleged bribery, and Young and council members seemed circumspect in discussing the measure. The resolution says "inspectors for the Department of Inspection and Code Enforcement may have been found to have been accepting bribes to perform their duties as inspectors, thereby depriving the public of the honest services of employees of Jefferson Parish."
Young indicated that the Sheriff's Office is conducting a criminal investigation while his administration is looking into violations of internal policy. But he cautioned that the Sheriff's Office is not finished with its work and that administrative investigations involving personnel matters are confidential. "That information is normally not shared," he told the council.
An administration official, who asked not to be identified, later said the inquiry centers on whether inspectors accepted bribes from building contractors to approve substandard construction work. "One or two" inspectors already have been disciplined, and further sanctions, including termination, could be forthcoming depending on what the Sheriff's Office concludes, the official said.
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http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/12/bribery_allegations_dog_jeffer.html#incart_river
Category: General Business
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