DETROIT _ The FBI raided City Hall and the mayor's home in Taylor, Mich., on Tuesday morning amid a sweeping public corruption investigation that has targeted nearly two dozen crooked politicians and businessmen in two counties and the city of Detroit, the Detroit Free Press has learned.
It was not immediately clear what specific activity is being investigated in Taylor, which is about 18 miles southwest of Detroit, though sources familiar with the case said it appears to be tied to a towing scandal.
Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars did not return multiple calls for comment. The raid comes two days before he was to deliver the state of the city address.
FBI Special Agent Mara Schneider declined to comment on specifics of the probe, saying only that the FBI and members of the Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force "executed multiple search warrants at Taylor City Hall and in several other locations around the area. The warrants were conducted as part of an ongoing public corruption investigation. Because this is an open investigation, I will not be discussing any of the details that led to today's action."
She added: " ... while I recognize the public's right to know what the FBI is doing on its behalf, we have a responsibility to protect the integrity of our investigation and, as importantly, we have a responsibility to protect the rights of individuals who have not been charged with any crimes."
In a puzzling move, the FBI _ while not disclosing what the case is about _ is encouraging people who believe they have information relevant to the case to reach out to the FBI through a hotline it has set up.
The U.S. Attorney's Office, which will ultimately decide if any charges will be brought, declined comment.
The activity in Taylor comes as the federal government continues to crack down on pay-to-play schemes in the suburbs, which landed on the FBI's radar following the 2013 corruption conviction of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is serving 28 years in prison.
Four years after winding up the Detroit City Hall corruption case, the FBI took the suburbs in a probe that took down the Rizzo trash empire, locked up a township official for 17 years, and triggered 17 convictions and criminal charges against 22 public officials and contractors, including towing mogul Gasper Fiore, trash titan Chuck Rizzo and Detroit City Councilman Gabe Leland.
Leland's case is pending.
Fiore, 57, of Grosse Pointe Shores, was sentenced in 2018 to 21 months in prison for paying $7,000 in cash bribes to ex-Clinton Township trustee Dean Reynolds in order to obtain a municipal towing contract with the township.
Reynolds was sentenced to 17 years in prison this month. Rizzo is serving a 5 { year prison sentence for bribery.
