Allegations of corruption

Visit our News page June 22, 2012 Allegations of corruption in a Michigan school district Richard Thompson, the President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), is one of our featured speakers at next week’s National Conference and Legislative Briefing. Check out the explosive allegations in a recent news release put out by TMLC (highlights added). THOMAS MORE LAW CENTER NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release:       June 19, 2012 Ties to Terrorism? Grand Jury Sought to Investigate Allegations of Corruption Involving Farmington Public Schools and Islamic Cultural Association ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced today that it submitted a letter to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette asking that he conduct a grand jury investigation into the Farmington Public Schools sale of Eagle Elementary School to the Islamic Cultural Association (ICA), which has ties to terrorist organizations. The Law Center informed Attorney General Schuette that “a fog of corruption has indeed enveloped the Farmington Public Schools relating to its 2011 agreement to sell Eagle Elementary School to the Islamic Cultural Association, and that this fog of corruption can only be pierced by a grand jury investigation and the use of other investigative tools in the law enforcement arsenal of the Attorney General’s Office.” [Click here to read entire letter] Richard Thompson, President and Chief Council of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “By agreeing to sell Eagle Elementary to the ICA under these suspicious circumstances, Farmington Schools sacrificed the interest of their children and taxpayers to bring into their community an organization with ties to terrorist organizations.” According to the real estate broker who represented ICA in the purchase of Eagle Elementary, ICA owns and operates the HUDA, an Islamic school in the Village of Franklin, Michigan. The Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan, reports that ICA shares direct ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (hereinafter “CAIR”) and the North American Islamic Trust, Inc. (hereinafter “NAIT”), both of which were named as unindicted co-conspirators/joint venturers in U.S. v. Holy Land Found. for Relief & Dev. (“HLF”), the largest terrorism funding trial in U.S. history. Federal prosecutors proved that HLF worked closely with the U.S. designated terrorist organization Hamas to fund terrorist activities. Moreover, during the HLF trial, several FBI agents testified to the unmistakable financial connections and dealings between HLF, CAIR, and NAIT. After the trial, the FBI severed ties with CAIR and NAIT due to their status as unsuitable liaison partners. Steven Pomerantz, the FBI's former chief of counterterrorism, even noted that "CAIR, its leaders, and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups." Organizations such as CAIR and NAIT defend such criticism by diverting attention away from their misdeeds and financial ties to Islamic terrorism through accusing those who criticize their associations and actions as being “Muslim bashers” or “Islamophobes.” Dawud Walid, Executive Director of CAIR-Michigan, testified in support of ICA during the Farmington Public Schools board meeting relating to the purchase of Eagle Elementary. The interconnected relationships of ICA, CAIR and NAIT serve as a partial backdrop for the real estate transactions orchestrated by Farmington Public Schools. The June 13, 2012 Thomas More Law Center letter to the Attorney General letter with 442 pages of exhibits was written on behalf of concerned citizens from West Bloomfield, Farmington and Farmington Hills. According to the letter, these concerned citizens have information, which supports claims of bribery, illegal campaign contributions, and violations of the Open Meetings Act and governmental practices dealing with the sale of public property. [Click here to read the 22-page Summary of Allegations] In creating a new Public Integrity Unit last year, Attorney General Schuette stated: "[e]nriching yourself at public expense is not only shameful, but compromises the integrity of government and violates the public trust. Weeding out corruption is top priority.” Information compiled through various sources indicates that the Farmington Public Schools (FPS) secretly negotiated a No-Bid, below-market, sale of valuable district property against the recommendations of its legal counsel, a specially-convened internal committee, and district residents. [Click here to see video clips of residents addressing FPS Board] While the District repeatedly rebuffed parties interested in purchasing the vacant elementary school telling them it was not for sale, FPS was exclusively negotiating behind closed doors in apparent violation of the Open Meetings Act, for many months with their favored buyer, the Islamic Cultural Association. Not only did FPS conceal its dealings from the public, it apparently misrepresented the status of the property to municipal officials from Farmington and Farmington Hills. On May 3, 2011, less than three weeks before it would publicly announce the Islamic Cultural Association’s offer to purchase Eagle Elementary, in a joint meeting with Farmington and Farmington Hills City Councils, FPS represented that Eagle was slated for demolition. On October 16, 2011, two days prior to FPS’s determinative vote on whether to extend the expiration date of the purchase agreement for the ICA to obtain Eagle Elementary, Dr Nabil Suliman, who does not reside in the Farmington School district nor does he have any children in Farmington Public Schools, contributed $2,000 ($1,000 over the legal limit) to FPS Board member Karen Bolsen. Concluded Thompson, “Our letter to the Attorney General focused on a catalog of suspicious circumstances dealing with corruption that can best be resolved by a citizens grand jury. A grand jury with the power to subpoena witnesses and compel testimony would insure that the guilty are brought to justice and the innocent exonerated.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT for America P.O. 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