Kenner, Covington men federally indicted, accused of fraudulent city permit scheme Share Updated: 5:25 PM CDT Apr 19, 2021 WDSU Digital Team Share Updated: 5:25 PM CDT Apr 19, 2021 WDSU Digital Team A Kenner man and a Covington man have been federally indicted and accused of taking bribe money in return for fraudulent permits for HVAC jobs in both Kenner and New Orleans. The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today that James Mohamad, 52, of Kenner, and Brian Medus, 44, of Covington, were charged in a one-count indictment by a federal grand jury on Monday. According to the indictment, Medus, the assistant chief mechanical inspector for the City of New Orleans, Safety and Permits Department, solicited and accepted bribe money from Mohamad, the director of the Department of Inspection and Code Enforcement for the City of Kenner, in return for the issuance of fraudulent permits for Mohamad s HVAC jobs. The indictment alleges that
Rogers Auto Parts, Inc. : Notice Of Removal With Jury Demand From 21st Jdc Tangipahoa Parish, Case Number 2021-0000209 (filing Fee $ 402 Receipt Number Alaedc-8761903) Filed By Frank Williams, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Rogers Auto Parts, Inc.. (attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Exhibit A, # 3 Exhibit B, # 4 Appendix Verification, # 5 Appendix List Of Parties, # 6 Appendix Certificat Of Compliance)attorney Candace Rachelle Leblanc Added To Party Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company(pty:dft), Attorney Candace Rachelle Leblanc Added To Party Rogers Auto Parts, Inc.(pty:dft), Attorney Candace Rachelle Leblanc Added To Party Frank Williams(pty:dft).(leblanc, Candace) Answer To 1 Notice Of Removal,, With Jury Demand By Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Rogers Auto Parts, Inc., Frank Williams.(leblanc, Candace)
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NEW ORLEANS - The City of Kenner and the private lawyers it hired are at the helm of a class action lawsuit against video streaming services Netflix and Hulu that accuses the services of not paying Louisiana municipalities their dues for having Louisiana customers.
According to documents filed in the Jefferson Parish District Court on Jan. 22, defendants Netflix and Hulu violate the 2008 Consumer Choice for Television Act by not paying the plaintiff its franchisee fee, which is 5% of the video service s gross revenue within that municipality. The lawsuit is similar to others filed around the country by government officials who are paying private lawyers a percentage of whatever is recovered.
Third-party inspectors are getting more work than ever, but face little oversight
“We have no oversight on how they do it. We can t investigate what they do or don t do. We don t even charge a fee for them to register with us. Author: Katie Moore / Eyewitness News Published: 9:45 PM CST February 24, 2021 Updated: 10:22 PM CST February 24, 2021
After the Hard Rock Hotel site collapsed killing three workers, the city of New Orleans started taking a closer look at its staff building inspections.
The collapse revealed city staff inspectors were not showing up in person to inspect the construction work. But the review also exposed problems with oversight of inspections done by private, third party companies.
Hidden Dangers | La. s private building inspectors work with little oversight
Third party inspectors are paid by contractors, rather than cities or parishes, creating a potential conflict of interests. Author: Katie Moore / Eyewitness News Published: 9:50 PM CST February 23, 2021 Updated: 9:59 AM CST February 24, 2021
NEW ORLEANS More than half of all the building inspections for the City of New Orleans in 2020 were not done by city officials, but inspectors working for private, third-party inspection companies.
Many of those inspectors are employed by cities and parishes outside the city, but they do inspections in New Orleans for third-party companies after hours.
The top building official for the city of Kenner, James Mohamad, was flagged by the City of New Orleans for problems with inspections he submitted while moonlighting for a third-party inspection company.