A federal grand jury investigation is underway into whether money tagged for the City of Detroit’s housing demolition program was misspent.
Sources are confirming to the 7 Investigators that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is not a target of this federal probe, and neither is his office.
But the investigation is moving forward as the feds take a closer look at the Detroit Land Bank and the Mayor’s housing demolition program.
More than 11,000 houses have been torn down in the City of Detroit since Duggan became mayor in 2014.
Contractors who worked with the Detroit Land Bank on Duggan’s aggressive housing demolition program have been subpoenaed to testify in front of a federal grand jury. Sources say the grand jury is asking for any communications dating back to January of 2014 between contractors and both city of Detroit and state agencies involved in the housing tear-down project.
The Detroit Land Bank is not a city agency, but members of the public authority are appointed by the Mayor, the Detroit City Council and the State of Michigan.
Past subpoenas from the investigation obtained by the 7 Investigators revealed that the feds have been scrutinizing Land Bank employees.
"We have fully cooperated with this investigation from the very beginning and will continue to do so. The mayor's position always has been that if anyone has done something wrong they should be punished,” said Alexis Wiley, Duggan’s Chief of Staff.
We have also reached out to the Detroit Land Bank for comment on the federal probe, but they’re not talking about the investigation.
