It is amazing how some stories go by the wayside when the media has its way. The now-former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has been indicted for fraud, and she was pushed to resign in her disgrace when the Healthy Holly book gate scandal came out. She was indicted last week, but nothing came forward in the news until Wednesday morning, a whole week later.
Pugh almost got away with running her scam for years at the University of Maryland Medical System. The city never got around to pass a law to cover what she was doing in the financial department. When the city caught on to the fraud being committed, they rushed into their meetings and passed the laws necessary to indict Pugh.
The laws which were passed would not affect the Baltimore Mayor from past discretions. Still, prosecutors uncovered more evidence the public did not know about. The indictments were secret, and she was charged with tax evasion and corruption. The New York Times published the story and it was the first anyone has ever heard of this news.
They wrote: “Catherine Pugh, the former mayor of Baltimore, has been indicted on corruption charges connected to the money she received for a series of children’s books she wrote, prosecutors made public on Wednesday.
Ms. Pugh, who resigned as mayor in May amid state and federal investigations over the sale of her “Healthy Holly” books to companies that had business ties to the city, faces multiple charges, including wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States government and tax evasion.
Most of the “Healthy Holly” books, promoting healthy eating and exercise habits, were never distributed to children as had been promised, the authorities said. Instead, thousands of copies were found in a Baltimore City Public School System warehouse; others were stored in Ms. Pugh’s offices and in one of her houses.”
So how could she get away with this for so long? The best place for every story to start is from the beginning. Pugh “sold” thousands of her children’s books to the UMMS and other locations while keeping the contracts with the city. Pugh was a Senator when the scam started, and she was overseeing and working the operation of UMMS.
She never really “sold” the books, and they were found sitting in a warehouse collecting dust while she pocketed the money. Since she was in charge of the operation, no one caught wind of what she was doing until this year. The amount she collected varies from different news sources, but the amount is estimated from $600,000 to one million dollars. The media cannot even get those numbers correct!
Pugh stopped talking to the press but assured everyone she had paid her share of taxes. This was proven not to be the case. At the time she started, it was technically legal because the city of Baltimore was lazy and did not make such laws a priority. It was the sales contracts that got her caught up with the government.
Now the law states it clear with no exceptions to the rule. If someone sells items and collect some form of payment from the consumer, then the seller must deliver. It is that simple. But this is a Democrat we are talking about here. What else would the people expect? They run the office in the same manner. Don’t believe us? Look at them now!
All of the books found in the warehouse and those not printed, were all paid for but never delivered. That is what prosecutors will have their way in the courtroom to convict the former Baltimore Mayor. We all know the IRS goes through everything with a fine-tooth comb. If anything is out of sort, so much as a decimal, they will throw her in jail and have their reason for conviction as well.
Just like a Democrat, though, her lawyers will find a way to drag this case over for the next several years and find every delay they can to stall out the case. Either way, there is no way out of this one for her because when things are this obvious, a person at fault just cannot walk away Scott Free!
The citizens of Baltimore will see their day of justice because it was taxpayers’ dollars, which secretly funded this corrupt politician and her underground organization. Maybe they can put her in the same cell block as Hillary Clinton! The swamp will be drained even within the cities.
