According to the FBI, a former president of the Madison District Public Schools Board of Education, as well as a local contractor working for the school district, have both been indicted on allegations of accepting bribes.
Albert Morrison, 60, the former president of the school board, is accused of accepting more than $560,000 in bribes from John David, 64, in exchange for the district receiving more than $3.1 million in contracts. The payments are alleged to have been paid by John David.
Both were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery as co-conspirators in the scheme. In addition to that, three accusations of bribery related to federally funded programs were brought against them.
The accusations were added to an indictment that had been brought against Morrison on April 6 and accused him with tax evasion as well as failing to file tax returns in connection to the money from David.
According to the FBI, throughout Morrison’s tenure as board president from 2012 to 2018, the amount of more than $3.1 million that was given to David’s company Emergency Restoration for use in construction projects at Madison District Public Schools.
David allegedly wrote cheques from his company to another business that Morrison owns called Comfort Consulting between the years of 2014 and 2018. According to the authorities, Morrison would put the money from the cheques into his own bank account. Both have known one another for quite some time.
According to the FBI’s investigation, David forked over a minimum of $561,667 to Morrison. They further claim that David’s business was given approximately $3,167,275 by the Madison District. They said that Morrison confirmed that he was required to “pay to play” in the school district.
According to the allegations, Morrison blew the money he got on personal extravagances such as trips to Florida and a boat slip.
According to the FBI, when Morrison was publicly questioned during a board meeting, he denied having any financial ties to David or his company. This information comes from the meeting where the confrontation took place.
According to the FBI’s investigation, Morrison and David also failed to inform auditors from the state of Michigan about the payments.
According to the authorities, Morrison did not report any income to the IRS in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, or 2018. These funds were from David. He did not file a federal income tax return for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, or 2018. According to federal investigators, Morrison managed to evade paying approximately 118,200 dollars in taxes.
According to a statement released by the United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison, “Children and their parents deserve a school system devoid of corruption.” “The indictment handed down today exemplifies our commitment to ensuring that our educational systems place the needs of our children at the forefront,”
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It is possible that Morrison and David might spend a total of 15 years in prison if they are found guilty of all three counts of bribery as well as the conspiracy charge. In addition to this, each case of tax evasion that Morrison is found guilty of may land him in prison for a maximum of five years, and each count of failing to file tax returns could land him in jail for a year.
According to James A. Tarasca, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, “it is important that contracts funded by our school systems be awarded through a fair and transparent process.” These contracts should not be awarded through deals that are funded by bribes to those in positions of power. “Efforts to uncover corruption are a priority for the FBI, and we will continue to aggressively investigate these accusations alongside our partners at the Internal Revenue Service and the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Education.”
