Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has been charged by federal prosecutors after what’s being deemed a corrupt scheme involving the sales of her self-published children’s books.
According to The Baltimore Sun, Pugh was hit with 11 counts of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy in a grand jury indictment made public on Wednesday. Prosecutors accuse Pugh of defrauding area businesses and nonprofit organizations with almost $800,000 in sales of her “Healthy Holly” books to unlawfully enrich herself, illegally fund her campaign for mayor and to promote her own political career.
Though her buyers ordered more than 100,000 copies of the books, the indictment says Pugh didn’t print thousands of copies, she double-sold others and she took some to use for self-promotion. The 69-year-old used the profits to pay down a debt, buy a house, and make illegal straw donations to her campaign, say prosecutors.
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Along with all of this, prosecutors accuse Pugh of tax evasion. For example, in 2016 she was a state senator and ran for mayor. She communicated to the Internal Revenue Service that she had made only $31,000. However, in reality, her income was more than $322,000 that year.
The charges against Pugh has her potentially facing 175 years in prison. Prosecutors are aiming to seize $769,688 of her profits, along with her current home, which they say she bought and renovated with fraudulently obtained money. The former Democratic mayor is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Thursday in downtown Baltimore.
“Our elected officials must place the interests of the citizens above their own,” U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur said about the situation. “Corrupt public employees rip off the taxpayers and undermine everyone’s faith in government.”
Source: Feds Charge Ex-Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh Over Children’s Books Promoting Black Health
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