Prosecutors say recreation department employee Robert Fitzpatrick conspired to commit theft of federal dollars. Author: Mark Naymik (WKYC) Updated: 8:24 PM EST January 15, 2021
CLEVELAND
The video above is from our previous reporting on Jan. 13, 2021
Federal prosecutors today laid out charges against a city employee who has close ties to Cleveland Councilman Ken Johnson, who is at the center of an FBI investigations first revealed this week by 3News.
The charges say Robert Fitzpatrick for years signed timesheets each month as documentation for work he performed for a councilman and for which he was paid directly from a councilman’s pocket.
But the prosecutors say Fitzpatrick never actually performed the work nor got paid. Prosecutors say the councilman used the signed timesheets as a receipt for ward services to obtain $1,200 expense reimbursement from the city. The filing does not detail how much the councilman obtained through the sch
The FBI is investigating longtime Cleveland Councilman Ken Johnson and two others with ties to City Hall. Author: Mark Naymik (WKYC) Updated: 5:23 PM EST January 14, 2021
CLEVELAND The FBI is investigating longtime Cleveland Councilman Ken Johnson and two others with ties to City Hall, according to federal subpoenas obtained by 3News. The subpoenas date back more than a year, but include one filed by outgoing U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman in December, with documents due January 5th.
The FBI appears to be seeking information related to two issues involving Johnson: his use of the Cleveland City Council expenses dating back years; and federal money distributed from the city to the Buckeye Shaker Square Development Corp., a nonprofit aimed at redeveloping the Buckeye and Shaker Square neighborhoods. The nonprofit was shuttered after Cleveland s community development department cut it off from federal funds because the nonprofit failed to produce an