(WXYZ) - Detroit’s former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is no doubt thankful that he’s in a different place than last year, when he spent Thanksgiving in a county jail cell. WXYZ Chief Investigative Reporter Steve Wilson looks at the many questions still facing Kilpatrick as he prepares to return to the witness chair on December 7.
His lawyer may be right when he says Kilpatrick has not technically violated any specific order of the court, but when you review what he’s said under oath, you may begin asking yourself how many times has he violated the spirit of what’s expected when you’re a defendant in a court of law?
Kwame Kilpatrick/Fmr. Detroit Mayor: I need to be careful because it seems this has turned into something else besides a restitution hearing.
He’s right about that. Ostensibly to learn more about how much money he actually has at his disposal (with which to re-pay the city $1,000,000 in restitution), it’s been clear from the get-go prosecutors are after more.
Athina Siringas/Wayne County Asst. Prosecutor: We’ve obtained records that certainly will show that the statements made in that pleading to which the defendant indicated and swore under oath were true are, in fact, not true!
First under attack, Kilpatrick’s motion to the court last March to get his monthly restitution payments reduced because he claimed he had only $6 left after paying his bills each month.
Athina Siringas: He had $240,000 dollars in assets that he failed to disclose to this court. He lied about it in an affidavit. He came to the court and said, “Oh look at me, I can’t live. How am I supposed to live?”
The disclosure about $240,000 reportedly loaned to him by four Detroit business big-shots has been just the beginning of things he tried to hide, the prosecutor insists.
Athina Siringas: You disclosed your student loans, right?
Kwame Kilpatrick: Yes.
Athina Siringas: Yes. And you disclosed the fact that you owe your lawyers a lot of money, right?
Kwame Kilpatrick: Yes.
But the “loan money” he put in his pocket the day he left jail? He didn’t mention that to probation officers.
Kwame Kilpatrick: They wanted to know what are your assets. Not your assets and your wife’s, what are yours.
And prosecutors say while he was funneling money to his wife Carlita, he failed to initially disclose cash in accounts jointly titled in his name and hers, despite what he said in court.
Kwame Kilpatrick: Absolutely not. Matter of fact, all of my accounts, I disclosed at that time.
But then, later he admitted, yes, he also failed to disclose:
Athina Siringas: Did you have a Harley Davidson motorcycle?
Kwame Kilpatrick: Yes.
Athina Siringas: Is that one of the assets you told probation about?
Kwame Kilpatrick: No I did not.
And there’s the issue of whose money has actually paid Kilpatrick’s restitution? Remember what he told the judge?
Judge David Groner/Wayne County Circuit Court: Have you made all those payments personally, or did anyone else make those payments for you? In other words, did the checks all say Kwame M. Kilpatrick on the cashier’s check or the money order?
Kwame Kilpatrick: Yes.
But now we’ve learned through filings and testimony that he and his wife have collected a fortune in cash and gifts from others in addition to that $240,000 loan.
Athina Siringas: There’s so many different people giving you so much money that you can’t even keep it straight. Is that what you’re telling me, sir?
Michael Schwartz/Kilpatrick’s Attorney: Objection!
Despite what you heard him tell the judge, he’s admitted getting money from former appointees like Jeff Beasley, treasurer in the Kilpatrick administration. You'll recall that back in May of 2007, Action News caught him enjoying a public-paid trip to Hawaii with the mayor in better times. Matty Maroun is another businessman whose given generously—to Mrs. Kilpatrick and the kids. And the others mysteriously supplementing the former mayor’s six-figure paycheck?
Athina Siringas: Let’s hear the names now.
Kwame Kilpatrick: I’m not…
Athina Siringas: You said something about Jeffrey Beasley.
Kwame Kilpatrick: I’m not…
Athina Siringas: You’re not going there?
Kwame Kilpatrick: I’m not doing that. You have the information.
Now, couple all this with seeing a G-man on the stand with evidence Kilpatrick wasn’t entirely truthful about what he knew of financial details regarding that big house where he lives in Texas. That, and a tacit acknowledgment a federal grand jury is looking at him too? Well, as we said, there’s more than too much turkey to be giving indigestion to our former mayor these days.
Here’s to a more-peaceful, blessed, and Happy Thanksgiving at
your house.
If you have a tip for the Action News Investigative Team, contact us at wilson@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
