“Read Me First” and “Sworn Affidavit” documents provide detailed information
CD INDEX – small sampling of available documentation
911 How many citizens had problems getting 911 assistance in times of need? How many calls were abandoned? How many calls were dropped? How many other citizens hung up and drove themselves or injured loved ones to medical facilities putting themselves and other citizens at risk? How many citizens might have experienced much more favorable results if only help had arrived minutes or seconds sooner but for a failing 911 system? An independent audit conducted by the City Auditor reveals that 20% of calls to 911 in San Antonio are abandoned (don’t complete) compared to 5% in Austin and 8% in Dallas. One in five calls fail. One in five citizens can’t reach 911. A 2005 report details a 23.6% drop rate meaning that one in four citizens never got connected to a call taker when they called E911 in San Antonio. City management was well aware of the problems with the 911 system. Documents, audits and audio recordings prove this fact. Funding needed to repair the malfunctioning 911 system was denied when IT Services Manager Diana Gonzalez states “MONEY- It’s as simple as that-money”. Fraud, theft, misuse, misappropriation, etc. drained funding from department telecommunications budgets (including SAPD and SAFD) for decades and citizens suffered.
ACLU Letters requesting assistance .
ATTORNEY GENERAL ABBOTT Attorney General Abbott ignores correspondence reporting numerous criminal violations by City employees/officials/elected officials. A 2009 FBI note states that the AG investigated the allegations and found no fraud but this is simply a lie. No investigation was opened. The crimes were never investigated and prosecuted.
AVAYA INC. CONTRACT FRAUD THE AVAYA TELEPHONE CONTRACT WAS USED FOR YEARS AND MOST PROBABLY DECADES TO ILLEGALLY FUNNEL CITY, STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDS INTO THE HANDS OF CORRUPT CITY EMPLOYEES AND VENDORS.
City Council approved annual contracts with Avaya Inc. stipulating a set limit on the cost of the products/services. Corrupt City employees circumvented legal limits on their purchases by secretly using the Avaya contract to spend City, State and Federal funds over the limit set by law and for non-telephone related expenses. Funding was illegally diverted to vendors with no City contracts in violation of open-bidding and other regulations. Avaya processed the bills and presented a monthly statement to corrupt IT managers who in turn illegally altered invoices to disguise the purchases as Centrex telephone costs (SBC/Southwestern Bell Company) that were dumped into the variable telephone billing account on a monthly basis while auditors were provided with fraudulent reports/records. Chief Information Officer Richard J H Varn and others lied under oath and took other steps in an effort to hide this criminal activity. Tax dollars paid artificially inflated Avaya fees based on illegal costs submitted by Medina and his “friends”.
BABY GABRIEL CONNECTION Corrupt law enforcement officials of Texas taint everything they touch including this high profile case. The aggravated perjury of Texas Ranger Asst. Chief Hank Whitman and the ongoing cover-up of his crimes by the DPS make everything touched by the DPS/Texas Rangers suspect. Lies told by SAPD officials and efforts to hide the criminal activity inside the City ( especially the aggravated perjury/subornation of perjury/obstruction of CIO Richard J H Varn , IT Director Hugh Miller and City attorney Deborah Klein) prove that they cannot be trusted to be involved in the ongoing investigation. Lies told by the local FBI and the publication of fraudulent documents to cover up the long term criminal activity/corruption prove that the FBI can’t be trusted to tell the truth. A recent news article entitled - Baby Gabriel's mother called system 'corrupt' in letter – hits the nail on the head. Representatives of the FBI, the Texas Rangers, the DPS, the SAPD, the Bexar County Sherriff’s Office and the Bexar County DA prove her allegation to be true. Liars like Texas Ranger Whitman, CIO Varn, City attorney Klein, IT Director Miller, FBI agent Brown and others taint everything they touch with their lies. Baby Gabriel’s mother cannot get a fair trial as long as any of these corrupt law enforcement agencies are involved in the case. They lied before and will lie again and again.
BERNARDGATE San Antonio, Texas City Attorney Michael Bernard – the brother of White House Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard – is under investigation. The criminal investigation by Bexar County Constable Mark Vojvodich centers on the facts that for three decades corrupt public employees pilfered, misused, misappropriated, etc. upwards of $100 MILLION and City Attorney Michael Bernard has spent the past five (5) years conspiring with others to hide the criminal activity-and violating the law/ the Constitution / the City Charter / Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct in the process. Citizens ask just what part Obama’s administration has in covering up the decades of theft/fraud being hidden by City Attorney Bernard. Is City Attorney Michael Bernard’s brother – White House Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard - using his position to protect his brother? Do Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard’s fundraising successes and his ability to commandeer the “gay” vote play a part in the cover-up? Does the fact that White House Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard and City Of San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro are highly visible Democratic Party supporters/fundraisers play a part in the efforts by Federal officials to assist in the cover-up? How high up in Obama’s administration does the criminal cover-up go? Is the President participating?
BEXAR COUNTY CONSTABLE
Mark S. Vojvodich - Constable, Pct 3 Bexar County Police- replied to an email message and stated that “We have independent investigative authority and will work any type of case with reasonable “.cause. He was forwarded a sampling of documents, audio recordings, etc. on March 9, 2011. On Tuesday – April 19, 2011 he sent the following email - “We still have an open investigation on this but the investigators is out on medical leave. If you have a specific time and date to meet and discuss this further, we can bring in a second investigator or see if the one on medical can check by for that meeting.”
BOND, AUDIT AND ACCOUNTING FRAUD Underwriters, banks, auditors, attorneys, etc. are being notified of the fact that official statements submitted for years are untrue, that material facts have been omitted and that theft of City, State and Federal funds has been covered up. Every entity associated with any financial transaction with the City is being made aware of the ongoing efforts to hide decades of theft and fraud by City employees. City of San Antonio officials have since 2002 and 2005 when the fraud, theft, fraudulent audits, etc. were reported by two separate employees provided untrue official statements to banks, underwriters, auditors, agencies. They continued to provide untrue statements ensuring the integrity of city records/audits and the security of city assets even after February 2009 when CIO Varn, City Attorney Klein and others lied under oath in court to hide criminal activity inside the IT department. Varn’s lies fly in the face of published statements provided to Moody’s, Fitch, S&P, UBS Investment Bank, Wachovia Bank, Morgan Keegan, Siebert Brandford Shank, First Southwest, Ramirez, FSA, McCall/Parkhurst/Horton, Coastal Securities, Estrada Hinojosa, Unison Maximus, Fulbright/Jaworski, Andrews Kurth, Grant Thornton, KPMG, Leal/Carter, Robert Williams, Winstead, West, Mellon Trust, M E Allison, RBC Capital, Piper Jaffray, Loop Capital and others.
CIO MICHAEL ARMSTRONG
Former City of San Antonio, Texas CIO Michael Armstrong ( currently the CIO for Corpus Christi, Texas) was a “gatekeeper” i.e., directors, lawyers, bankers, accountants - to City finances - who failed to react appropriately when “red flags” warning of possible regulatory problems/fraud were waving, who did not take sufficient action to avoid wrongdoing and in fact assisted in the cover-up. Actions on the part of other corrupt public servants built upon the foundation he laid in 2005/2006 to hide long term criminal activity and fraud.
CITY SAPD MUNICIPAL INTEGRITY Claims against the City- MI Investigator Steve Harrison lied under oath in court and published fraudulent reports to hide the illegal use of the variable billing account, falsification of FEMA time records and other crimes Unfounded- MI Manager states that all claims are unfounded BUT goes on to detail how for decades every City department had been billed for “untold amounts of goods and services” for which they received no benefit. She lies and states that no written rules or laws were violated. This email of November 2005 proves that MI Manager Quinn, Budget Director Peter Zanoni, CIO Armstrong and IT Director Miller were aware of the fraud and misappropriation of funds. This email proves that the MI report issued in October 2005 was a fraudulent document published to hide decades of fraud, theft, fake audits, etc. City Attorney Bernard kept the fake MI report and fake Avaya compliance audit a secret and began the five year process to cover up the criminal activity. Quinn Courtroom Testimony- Quinn lies under oath when she again states that no written rules or laws existed regulating the variable billing account and that none were violated. Misappropriation of Funds- Summary of sworn intake MI statements where City employees provide details of the fraud and misappropriation of funds by Medina and his “friends”.
Chief McAnus and other SAPD officials including Sgt. Biesenbach, Executive Officer Lt. Janae Florance, Powers, Sides, Callaway, etc. are aware of the criminal activity. Biesenbach lied when he stated that no wrongdoing was found as FEMA time sheets were in fact altered and fraudulent reports were submitted by ITSD crooks. Letters to City officials and law enforcement- sample of correspondence On July 1, 2009 SAPD Chief McAnus signed and had two policemen deliver a criminal trespass warning letter barring entry into City Hall and Council meetings in an effort to hide the criminal activity. The City Charter and other regulations state that any citizen can object to funding being spent with no Council/Citizen approval and that such contracts/expenditures are void and illegal. McAnus closed out police reports and issued the criminal trespass warning in violation of the City Charter and other laws. The City ignored requests for a meeting or for information as to why the warning was issued from July 2009 until Sept. 2010. In September 2010 City Attorney Michael Bernard informed Attorney Edward L. Pina (attorney for former Telecommunications Manager Foddrill hired to address the unconstitutional/illegal criminal trespass warning issued on 7/1/2009) that he would lift the criminal trespass warning to avoid a lawsuit. As of February 2011 the warning has not been lifted. City Attorney Michael Bernard lied again.
COMPTROLLER SUSAN COMBS Susan Combs gives the City a gold award- the highest rating- for “transparency in government” despite the fact that she has been provided with proof that City leaders, law enforcement, auditors, etc. conspire to hide decades of fraud. The City refuses to follow the law and general rules of accounting. The City refuses to restate fraudulent audits and financial statements or to expose the violations of law including theft, fraud, accounting fraud, grant fraud, etc.
DA REED DA Reed’s Office lied to avoid investigating her “buddy” City Attorney Michael Bernard and his cover-up of the corruption, fraud, theft, etc. She ignores years of letters/phone calls while her staff publish fraudulent statements that she can do nothing until the Rangers call her in. Their lies were challenged by Texas Ranger Whitman in a letter, by Senator Van De Putte in a recorded meeting and others. The FBI, DA, DPS, etc. look away as they need to cover up Asst. Deputy Director Whitman’s lies under oath and in official reports. They conspire to cover up decades of fraud and the ongoing illegal cover-up of the crimes. Senators Van De Puke, Wentworthless and others are aware that they are lying to hide theft/misappropriation of government funds but do nothing.
DEPOSITIONS City employee Diana Lopez provides a sworn statement detailing how former City employee Joyce Garcia suddenly retired because ITSD Manager Jose Medina was forcing her to falsify financial records and to lie. During this time the variable charge that was usually $ 25 rose to $75 per phone per month ($400,000 a month/$ 5 million a year in bogus charges not related to Centrex telephone costs outlined in AD 6.12) due to the unauthorized and illegal costs being dumped into the internal billing account. She details how $ 30,000 was transferred from SAPD to ITSD via a phone call to Deborah Almenderez by Medina but can’t be accounted for. CIO Varn states under oath during his deposition that he doesn’t recognize the term “variable” and does not know anything of the internal billing account. Under oath in court his statements directly contradict his sworn deposition when he lies to hide the fraud, theft, corruption, etc. Varn lied under oath to hide violations of law. He has been allowed to sneak out of town to avoid prosecution.
DPS/TEXAS RANGERS Texas Department of Public Safety Assistant Deputy Director Hank Whitman (now Chief of the Rangerspromoted March 2011) lied under oath in court and in official reports when he stated that he never identified any violations of law during a meeting in October 2008. Whitman lied in his official report of 12/9/2008 to Director Clark when he stated that he was unaware of the pending lawsuit until after the meeting, that Foddrill never told his attorney about the meeting, etc. as Attorney Gaul and Whitman spoke before the meeting and she gave her approval for Foddrill to meet. He lied when he stated in writing that Foddrill said that he never told his attorney of the meeting or gained her approval prior to the Oct. 14, 2008 meeting. The fact is that Gaul and Whitman spoke before the meeting and Gaul provided approval for Foddrill to meet with Whitman. Numerous letters are on file with the DPS/Texas Rangers and other law enforcement agencies received in 2007, 2008 and 2009 where they were made aware of the pending lawsuit. Whitman lied when he stated only after the Oct. 2008 meeting did he learn of the lawsuit. Whitman lied when he stated in his 12/9/2008 report that no one ever said that the DA or SAPD was not being honest. In his Sept. 15, 2008 letter Whitman stated that per protocol the DA must make a formal request for the Rangers to investigate public corruption. He reiterated this fact again and again during our October 2008 meeting when we reviewed statements made by officials at the DA’s office stating that they couldn’t do anything unless the Rangers called them in. Whitman reviewed statements made by SAPD and MI investigators concerning the falsification of FEMA time records and stated that they were not being honest as there was in fact evidence that the reports had been falsified. He vowed to attend the trial and collect additional evidence of aggravated perjury. The fact is that Whitman identified the falsification of FEMA time reports as a violation of law and commented that IT Manager Diana Gonzalez was not telling the truth during the MI interview when she stated that she never saw a handwritten submission as she copied the information (including typographical errors) but changed the hours reported. He stated that he would attend the trial and collect additional evidence of aggravated perjury to build a case. He identified the falsification of time reports by Gonzaba/Medina as a violation of law. He identified the falsification of invoices listed as phone costs as a violation of law. He identified the falsification of any government document as a violation of law. He held up a pocket size copy of the penal code and quoted specific passages concerning violations of law we were discussing. He identified grant fraud as a Federal offense and directed that the FBI be contacted. Assistant DA Barry Elliott left a voice mail message shortly after the meeting indicating that a follow-up would occur and that more formal statements were necessary. Whitman emailed information detailing the exact penal code we discussed at length during our meeting. Assistant DA Elliott obtained a search warrant and looked into Jose Medina’s bank accounts ( DA Reed refuses to produce a copy of the search warrant but we ask- How does the DA obtain a search warrant for access to a citizen’s bank account if they do not suspect a violation of law?). . The DPS refused to administer polygraph tests to the five persons present at the October 2008 meeting that took place at the Ranger station in San Antonio as the tests will prove that Whitman lied under oath in court. They cover for Whitman and cannot expose the fraud, perjury, subornation of perjury, theft, etc. within the City without exposing Whitman as well. Texas Ranger Asst. Chief Hank Whitman is a liar, lied under oath in court and lied in official statements/documents. Suddenly in March 2011 Ranger Chief Leal announces his retirement and liar Whitman is named interim Ranger Chief. Promoting Whitman into the top spot at the Texas Rangers taints EVERY case the Rangers touch as his promotion expanded his corrupt influence to include ALL cases. The Public Safety Commission has been provided with proof of the violations of law, corruption, cover-up, etc. but refuses to reply to any correspondence over the past five years. I guess they figure if they ignore the problem it will just go away? NOT!
ETHICS
Recent events focus the ethics spotlight on Council members and the City Attorney. A secret recording of a HOA board meeting caught Councilperson Chan and City Attorney Bernard conspiracy to use up to $340,000 of public funds to repair a private drainage canal on tape. “Michael Bernard (City Attorney) is going to just kind of close an eye and let us use some (Tax Payer) funding to do this,” Chan was recorded saying.” The Ethics Review Board ignores requests for advisory opinions and information. They ignore numerous written complaints. To date they have refused to respond to every inquiry.
FBI FBI agent D. True Brown lied in a letter of Sept. 3, 2009 when he stated that there were three separate meetings with three separate agents. Agent Ratcliff lied when he stated that he “looked into the allegations”. The FBI cannot provide details, dates, participants, etc. concerning the three meetings as they never occurred. FBI agent Brown lied and other agents especially SAC Powers of Houston, Texas are using his fraudulent publication to stall any investigation. They cover for Whitman and in turn cover up for City criminals. FBI agents in charge Diaz and Nelson are aware of the criminal activity and ongoing cover-up but look away. Other FBI agents including but not limited to Radcliff, Pratt and Powers ignore the crimes and cover-up as well. The FOIA documents show that the Texas “Rangers cautioned about dealing with Foddrill” and that they “found no fraud”. The Rangers did indeed find fraud and cautioned about dealing with Foddrill because they had to hide the fact that Ranger Whitman lied in official reports and under oath in court to help the city cover up the crimes. While the corrupt FBI allows liar Texas Ranger Whitman to remain free he is promoted to Interim Chief after his boss Texas Ranger Chief Leal suddenly retires at age 47. Maybe Leal finally realizes that Whitman sucked him into covering up decades of criminal activity inside the seventh largest City in our nation? Leal- you can run but you can’t hide. Whitman now taints every case that the Texas Rangers investigate. Criminals will be set free as Liar Chief Whitman taints their cases with his own criminal violations and lack of integrity/honesty.
FBI FOIA DOCUMENTS FINALLY ARRIVE. After waiting 18 months for records a box arrived in March 2011.The box contained a 3 ½ inch stack of documents that former Telecom Manager Foddrill had mailed to the FBI over the past five years beginning in January 2006. It contained just five (5) pieces of paper authored by the FBI since 2006 concerning the case. The FBI receives a 3 ½ inch stack of documents over 5 years and amasses the total sum of 5 pieces of paper! The five documents were all authored in July 2009 in response to phone calls. Three documents were copies of a phone call notification form stating that Foddrill had called. Agent True Brown NEVER returned the phone calls-typical FBI in-your-face arrogance. Two documents contain handwritten notes: “prior dealings with Texas Rangers on this. Densen knows him The Rangers cautioned about dealing with Foddrill” – note: of course Whitman cautioned the FBI about dealing with Foddrill Whitman had to cover up his criminal acts committed to hide violations of law for the City! “Todd Ratcliff/Carg v both have looked into allegations, Rangers / AG looked at it found no fraud hearsay basis on audit “ – note: more lies with no official report or documentation FEMA TIME REPORT FALSIFICATION
IT Manager Diana Gonzalez falsified FEMA time report submissions and then submitted the fraudulent records. She lied to Telecom Manager Foddrill, Municipal Integrity investigators and others to hide the crime. Gonzalez fraudulently stated that she never saw a hand-written time report submission but in reality she had copied information from the document (including typo/errors) but changed the hours. IT Manager Mike Mitchell submitted documentation for 12.5 hours but was paid for 59.5 hours by IT Director Miller. MI (Harrison and Quinn) wrote yet another fake report to hide the criminal activity. SAPD LT. Janae Florance (assistant to the chief) and her subordinates had the falsified reports and proof of the violations of law in their possession but refused to take a statement or open an official report. Municipal Integrity manager Virginia Quinn and Investigator Steve Harrison wrote a fake report stating that Foddrill requested and approved of the hour reduction. In October 2009 Texas Ranger Capt. Hank Whitman reviewed the reports and stated that it didn’t take a full investigation to see that Gonzalez had in fact seen the handwritten submission but had simply altered the hours. He vowed to attend the whistleblower trial and collect evidence of additional cases of aggravated perjury on her and other’s behalf. Whitman was later convinced to instead lie under oath in court and state that he never identified any violations of law.
GRANT FRAUD Agencies and elected officials are aware of the illegal use of grant funds via the fraudulent manipulation of the internal billing account- the variable. They look away.
HUD HUD special agent Victoria Marquez stated “ I don’t care” too many times to count when she was informed of the long term theft/misuse of HUD funds when HUD was billed every month for costs not associated with Centrex phone costs at HUD sites around the City. HUD refuses to interview critical witnesses and closed an “investigation” without responding to numerous phone calls and letters begging for an official interview.
JOHN E FODDRILL SR February 2005 Employee of the Month- nominated by IT Department Asst. Director Joe Chapa 2005 Performance Review - “Achieves Expectations”, “I’ve seen John work hard with difficult circumstances”- IT Director Hugh Miller, “taken upon his own initiative” and “city can benefit from his telecommunications experience” – IT Communications Manager Jose Medina. Resume spanning a 40 year telecommunications/IT career detailing an unblemished record
JUDGE ANTONIA ARTEAGA Judge Arteaga condones aggravated perjury, subornation of perjury and obstruction of justice in her courtroom.
MEDIA CENSORSHIP The Express News (San Antonio’s only major newspaper) routinely erased any comments concerning the corruption, violations of law and ongoing illegal cover-up. They erase all comments and ban citizens from the site regularly. Citizens supporting our corrupt Mayor, Council, City Attorney, City Manager, etc. are allowed to post
comments and patrol the EN site in an effort to have our comments censored. Rather than perform their duty as a citizen watchdog the EN helps the City keep the corruption hidden. San Antonio Current Editor Greg Harman erased ALL comments on ALL candidate articles. He is deciding what information voters are allowed to see. He helps the City keep hidden the fact that Bexar County Constable Vojvodich has an open investigation into the public/police corruption. Harman sent the following email on April 25, 2011 : haha! i'm sure greg abbott will be right over. here's a suggested outrage for your next fit of electronic campaign: "Harman tells Foddrill to suck on the ass hairs of a menstruating armadillo. Foddrill still banned from sacurrent.com."
MI REPORT AND WITNESS STATEMENTS Numerous sworn statements from long term City employees detail the illegal use of the variable and other illegal activity BUT corrupt MI manager Quinn and Investigator Harrison publish fraudulent documents stating that all allegations of wrongdoing are unfounded. City Attorney Bernard illegally denies access to the report and violated open records statutes to keep the fake report a secret.
NOTICE Up to date correspondence alerting lawmakers, officials, auditors, underwriters, etc. of the criminal activity and ongoing illegal cover-up. Representatives of several Texas cities including Dallas, Houston, Corpus Christi, Austin, El Paso, Helotes and Windcrest are being alerted to the fraud as they may benefit from the details of the long-term criminal activity as they use similar accounting practices and in many instances identical accountants, attorneys and underwriters.
OPEN MEETINGS City Attorney Bernard and Police Chief McAnus on July 1, 2009 issued a criminal trespass warning barring entry into City Hall, Council meetings and other City buildings including the City Attorney’s Offices. They refuse to provide any reason, a public hearing or any due process procedures. The warning is open-ended with no time limit nor any avenue for cancelation of the unconstitutional/illegal ban. All evidence presented to City Council members and the Mayor was confiscated. Scheduled meetings were canceled. City officials/staff were instructed not to speak with ANY citizen about the violations of law. Councilperson Clamp was provided with an email instructing him to ignore documents hand-delivered to his office. Former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez’s staff was informed by Councilperson Justin Rodriguez’s staff that they were under instructions not to speak with any citizens about the crimes and that Councilperson Rodriguez would not be speaking with anyone or replying to any letters.
PERJURY Varn/Klein CIO Richard J H Varn of Des Moines, Iowa (Yes, the City’s CIO lives in Iowa) with the coaching of City Attorney Deborah Klein and IT Director Hugh Miller lied under oath to hide decades of criminal activity inside the City’s IT Department. His entire testimony was fabricated. The variable billing account was not an approved means to obtain over $ 5 million a year from department and grant budgets since 1982. The variable was not established to help balance the budget, pay for pop-up costs, etc. City, State and Federal ordinances, rules, regulations, laws, etc. did not allow City employees to stroll over to the IT building and get millions of dollars for anything they wanted without Council approval, competitive bidding, etc. or to have the funds listed as phone expenses so auditors never
knew of the real use of the money. Klein coached Varn with his fabricated testimony to hide violations of law making both of them accessories to the crimes and guilty of subornation of perjury and aggravated perjury. Other city witnesses are guilty as well.
RACE/SEX BIAS City officials, law enforcement and others aggressively prosecuted a single black woman for misspending $16,000 of HUD grant funds on a retirement party for her boss- a City Department Director. She did not steal any funds for herself but used the money to support a City/Department function- a retirement party. While Ms. Tinsley was fired and arrested the gang at the IT Department was being protected by the City Attorney, DA Reed, the Texas Rangers and others. The IT Department cannot account for up to $ 5 million a year since 1982 but they get a pass. CIO Varn, IT Director Hugh Miller, City Attorney Deborah Klein and others lied under oath to hide the fraud but remain on the City payroll (or like Varn were paid $175,000 a year and then allowed to sneak out of town to avoid prosecution). How can officials prosecute the misuse of $16,000 by one employee while they throw City resources to help hide the theft of funds totaling in the tens of millions by others? Why is a black female held up for public ridicule while a white male is allowed to sneak out of town back to Iowa to avoid prosecution?
RECENT CASES A sampling of recent cases involving public corruption, police corruption, theft, embezzlement, perjury, etc. show that these acts are violations of law. Statements by DA Susan Reed’s staff of liars, Texas Ranger ( and liar) Hank Whitman and others are proved to be false as violations of law reported since 2005 are routinely investigated and prosecuted by the DA, Texas Rangers and the FBI.
STATE AUDITOR-JOHN KEEL State Auditor John Keel and his staff are well aware of the criminal activity inside the City. State Senator Jeff Wentworth spoke of the corruption and fraud with Keel in January 2009 (meeting and phone conversation recorded and are contained in folder entitled WAV files). He looks away. His staff reads a written document stating that they will not open an investigation but then illegally denies open records requests citing an ongoing investigation. Has he been told to protect Texas Ranger Asst. Chief Hank Whitman at all costs?
STATE SENATOR LETICIA VAN DE PUTTE “Van De Puke” ignored correspondence for years. When contacted by Lt Governor Dewhurst concerning the refusal by State Auditor John Keel to perform his duty she “ran the clock out” for eight months before providing a “very concerned” statement but NOTHING else. She looks away and helps criminals hide their crimes. Her efforts in early 2011 to pass legislation calling for accountability and transparency on the part of the DRTDaughters of the Republic of Texas – is very hypocritical as she assists the corrupt City officials hide decades of criminal activity, fraud, theft of public funds and the ongoing illegal cover-up of the crimes.
SUPER LAWYER MALINDA GAUL Gaul withheld critical evidence ( Varn’s 2007 deposition, AD 6.12, the City Charter, etc. ) from the Court that would have exposed the “fraud upon the court”.
THEFT OF PUBLIC FUNDS City, State and Federal funds were pilfered via numerous illegal schemes. The submission and approval of fake time reports is just one of the many ways tax dollars were stolen. With no audit of the variable billing account it was easy to submit and approve fake time report invoices for years. Law enforcement and City officials can not dispute the email where the scheme is concocted, the fake invoices, the auditor’s notes, etc. so they simply ignore the theft of $200,000. They cannot prosecute this crime without exposing others including Texas Ranger Assistant Chief Capt. Hank Whitman to scrutiny so they look away.
TRAVIS COUNTY DA AND THE DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION RESOURCES Fraudulent invoices were channeled through the Avaya telephone contract for years. Up to six fake time report invoices per month were processed by Avaya over a four year time span when $200,000 was stolen. Invoices for contracts not approved by Council or obtained via open-bidding were processed. Invoices for purchases from nonapproved vendors were processed. Invoices for non-telephone purchases were processed. Invoices for payments steered to “friends” in violation of existing legal contracts were processed. Avaya acted as the middleman for decades and collected a 20% or more markup on every invoice- legal or not. Medina and others sent Avaya invoices. Avaya processed the invoices and billed the City. Medina threw invoices he couldn’t legally account for via City, State and Federal regulations/rules/laws into the variable and billed every City department and grant for Centrex phone service. The City paid Avaya who in turn sent payment to vendors/”friends” doing business with Medina with no Council approval, no city ordinance, no open-bidding, no audit, etc. The Department of Information Resources Avaya contract was used to continue this illegal scheme once the City of San Antonio entered into an agreement to use DIR’s buying power and existing contracts. The fee collected by DIR is based on the total cost of the contract and is artificially increased due to the illegal transactions being processed by Avaya. Tax dollars paid an artificially inflated DIR fee based on illegal costs submitted by Medina and his “friends”.
VARN IS GONE City of San Antonio, Texas’ Chief Information Officer Richard J H Varn of Des Moines, Iowa suddenly disappeared from the City. With no public announcement his name has been removed from the City directory, the City Org chart, the City web site, etc. Calls to City Hall reveal that Varn left “a few months ago”. Varn’s sudden departure has been kept secret. When other City officials retire, resign or take other positions a public announcement is published. Health, Aviation, Convention/Visitor’s Bureau Director’s accomplishments have been recently and very publically touted when they left their positions. City Manager Sculley provided glowing accolades when interviewed about their departures and loss to our citizens. Details of future plans are noted along with efforts to conduct a nationwide search for a replacement. Varn left with no such announcement. Varn cleaned out his desk and snuck out of town back to his home in Des Moines, Iowa. A report detailing how Varn and City Attorney Deborah Klein presented a fraud to our courts was delivered to the FBI, the Texas Rangers, HUD OIG and other law enforcement agencies. After spending over two years ignoring the fact that Varn and others lied under oath to hide criminal activity inside the City’s IT Department I guess they couldn’t ignore a published report that has been posted on the Internet for the world to read. http://www.ripoffreport.com/government-services/city-of-san-antonio/city-of-san-antonio-texas-re-2c64e.htm
Varn is back in Iowa but the FBI has offices in that state and his actions to help hide the theft of City, State and Federal funds for decades are federal offenses. Maybe FBI officials in Iowa have more integrity than our local agents who helped Varn escape punishment here in Texas. Maybe they will hold him accountable.
WAV FILES October 2008 – voice mail message from Asst. DA Barry Elliott - “get a more formal statement”, “may expect someone to contact you and go from there”, “I did talk to some people” Asst. DA Elliott knew that violations of law were identified by Texas Ranger Hank Whitman and followed up with this voicemail message and also obtained a search warrant to examine Medina’s bank account. DA Reed refuses FOIA access to the search warrant. DA Reed ignores reports of the crimes and cover-up. January 2010 – HUD agent Victoria Marquez states “I don’t care” too many times to count. She and HUD Auditor Hall were provided with volumes of documents proving the fraud and theft of HUD, City, State and Federal funds. She refused to take an officials statement from critical witnesses. January 2010 – Meeting with Senator Jeff Wentworth – phone call to State Auditor Keel- Wentworth reviewed proof of fraud/theft and the criminal trespass warning issued by city attorney Bernard/SAPD Chief McAnus. At 33 minutes Wentworth can be heard saying “I’ve never seen anything quite like this” in reference to the warning. At 38 minutes he can be heard speaking via phone with State Auditor John Keel CPA using the words “credible”, “corrupt politicians” and “cover-up”. CPA Keel continues to ignore proof of the crimes. Wentworth was persuaded to look away and ignore the crimes. July 2010 – Meeting with Senator Leticia Van De Putte and her staff - They reviewed a report detailing the theft of funds by Medina and Gonzaba’s bogus time report scheme and a report detailing the fraud upon the court by Varn and Klein. The Senator comments that DA Reed had jurisdiction when her office was publishing letters stating that they could do nothing unless called into investigate by the FBI or Rangers. Van De Putte looks away. Crooked SAPD Visit the Forum