BALTIMORE _ A lawyer for Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said Tuesday the state prosecutor has opened an investigation into sales of her self-published children's book.
"The mayor will be cooperating with that investigation to the fullest extent possible," attorney Steven D. Silverman said in an email.
Silverman revealed the investigation after The Baltimore Sun asked for more details about sales of the books involving health insurer Kaiser Permanente and nonprofit Associated Black Charities.
"As this matter is now being investigated by the state prosecutor's office, I am not in a position to comment," Silverman wrote.
Pugh, a Democrat, is currently on a leave of absence from her role as mayor to recover from a bout of pneumonia. City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, also a Democrat, is filling in as acting mayor.
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan asked the state prosecutor on Monday to start an investigation of books the University of Maryland Medical System paid Pugh $500,000 for while she was on its board.
"These are deeply disturbing allegations," Hogan wrote to state prosecutor Emmet Davitt. "I am particularly concerned about the UMMS sale because it has significant continuing ties with the state and receives very substantial public funding."
Several members of the Baltimore City Council said Monday that they supported Hogan's request.
A retired investigator for the state prosecutor's office had also filed a written complaint with his former employer, requesting a criminal investigation. James Cabezas said Pugh's failure to disclose the UMMS book sales on state ethics forms could amount to perjury or misconduct in office.
The state prosecutor's office, which investigates political corruption offenses, said it does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations. Pugh is the second Baltimore mayor in a decade to be investigated by the office _ it ultimately convicted former Mayor Sheila Dixon of embezzling gift cards meant for the poor.
Pugh's book deals began in 2011 when she was a state senator.
In a no-bid deal, UMMS paid Pugh $100,000 in each of five transactions in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 to purchase 20,000 copies of her self-published "Healthy Holly" children's books at $5 per copy. Pugh was among nine members of the 30-person UMMS board that had contracts or other business deals with the medical system. Pugh and two other board members have resigned. Several others were placed on leave.
On Monday, Kaiser Permanente and Associated Black Charities confirmed that they had paid Pugh a further $200,000 for copies of the books. Pugh had previously said that UMMS was the only organization to have paid her for the books. But Silverman said Monday that Kaiser Permanente and Associated Black Charities payments were for additional copies.
Cabezas said in his complaint that omitting information on mandatory disclosure forms can result in perjury charges, if prosecutors can show that the official filling out the disclosure knowingly left something off.
Former Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Dallas Dance was indicted for lying on similar disclosure forms he filed with the school district about money he received from a contractor that did business with the school system.
The Kaiser Permanente sales coincided with the insurer being awarded a $48 million contract with the city. Pugh voted in favor of the contract as a member of the city's spending board, which she controls.
Separately, council members Shannon Sneed and Ryan Dorsey asked the city's inspector general to investigate the awarding of the contracts. Dorsey also wrote to the city's human resources director asking for information on how the outcome of any investigation might affect city employees insured by Kaiser Permanente.
