MAC Spring Newsletter 2015 4/2/2015
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MAC Quarterly Newsletter Municipal Advisory Council of Michigan Buhl Building 535 Griswold, Suite 1850 Detroit, Michigan 48226 Phone: 313-963-0420 800-337-0696 FAX: 313-963-0943 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.mi-macsite.com SPRING 2015 The Kilpatrick Enterprise Spring Conference eet Robert “Bob” Courtesy of MBeeckman, Supervi- The MAC & Bond Club of Detroit sor of the Public Corruption April 22, 2015 beginning at 3:00PM Squad at the Federal Bureau Speaker: Robert (Bob) Beeckman of the FBI of Investigation Field Office in Detroit. He’ll be speaking Save the Date at the joint MAC Michigan & You can register today: 313-963-0420 Bond Club of Detroit semi- Offered at VisTa Tech Center, Schoolcraft College Livonia, Michigan nar to be held at the VisTaTech Center in Livonia’s Schoolcraft College on April 22, 2015. His talk titled The Kilpatrick Enterprise will give attendees an inside look at the investigation, trial and conviction of A Look Back in History Detroit’s former mayor. MAC’s Early Days: 1932 Beeckman, an attorney, who was at one time an assistant prosecutor in Saginaw, Michigan teamed with eople who know others to investigate Kilpatrick, and it took Pthe history of the eight years of hard work to see it through. Municipal Advisory Continued on page 2. Council (MAC) may tell you it was incorpo- RECAPPING THE NEWER rated as a not-for-profit MAC KEY REPORT in October 1932, but See page 6 most are unaware that We’ve added features, and it has become a the MAC history actu- popular download! A sample is appended ally began in early 1931. at the end of the newsletter. On February 16, 1931 a steering committee held MAC’s Website and Reports a meeting in downtown Detroit to discuss creat- ing a new association to act on “the financial crises What Members Access! of various Michigan political subdivisions.” And at Did you know? Between 2012 and 2014 MAC mem- that meeting Mr. Carl H. Chatters, the then direc- bers accessed the website on average 19,025 times! tor of Finance in the city of Flint, Michigan, accept- The largest subsets of visitors are financial advisors, ed the committee’s invitation to become the Mu- followed by broker-dealers and rating agencies. nicipal Advisory Council’s first director, at a salary of $7200 per year. See MAC HISTORY on page 4. For more information see REPORTS on page 5. WELCOME MAC’s New Members Longhouse Capital Advisors US Bank Corporate Trust Services MAC Quarterly Newsletter Municipal Advisory Council of Michigan Buhl Building 535 Griswold, Suite 1850 Detroit, Michigan 48226 Phone: 313-963-0420 800-337-0696 FAX: 313-963-0943 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.mi-macsite.com SPRING 2015 Employed at the FBI for the past 19 you see on television,” added Beeck- to make money for another,” he ex- years, Beeckman began his tenure man. “To wiretap there are approv- plained. Beeckman gave an example. investigating robberies and kidnap- als we go through, countless approv- “If you have a city that will buy 20 ping, then “moved into public cor- als. We really are the good guys.” His fire trucks this year and someone ruption cases,” he said, adding, “It’s team examines bank records and has power to award the contract to a everything I thought it would be.” uses covert techniques, “including particular person or member, there is And yes, he’s been to Quantico in consensual monitoring, and placing room for corruption. Or if you have Virginia where he received training. a bug at a particular place,” he said. police writing unwarranted tickets Whatever the investigation, Kwame or someone paying a city inspector According to Beeckman, in the Kilpatrick, Alonzo Bates or others, $500 to look the other way regarding hierarchy of FBI priorities, public Beeckman has used every tool avail- a payment owed to the city of $5,000, (municipal) corruption sits high. able: surveillance, audits of financial everyone loses. The city loses. Its peo- While “terrorism and cyber crimes records, bank record reviews, and ple lose. Again, it’s about power, and are definitely number one, on the countless interviews with hundreds who has it, who exercises it.” There is criminal list of priorities, munici- of people. In the case of Kilpatrick, no typical public corruption profile pal crimes rank higher in priority over 2,500 people were questioned. because the motivation behind the than even violent crimes and other acts fluctuates. One corruptor might acts because if you have a public of- He emphasized, “The FBI can only have fallen on hard times, and anoth- ficial selling their office by taking function if people cooperate with er might simply be greedy. bribes, it tears apart democracy and us. People want the right thing to you cannot function as a society if be done, but then write an anony- Technology has played a role in elected officials do not uphold their mous tip letter. That doesn’t work. investigations and while social net- duties,” he said. It all breaks down. We’re only as good as the public that working has made it easier to find helps.” Beeckman said it takes years people and investigate relationships Beeckman was involved in a cor- to investigate cases. He stressed that, and community ties, new devices on ruption case against Alonzo Bates, a “If people are afraid for safety, we the market that block access to phone Detroit City Council member, con- can take care of that. I’ve never seen records, and phones that block track- victed in 2006 of federal charges; a case where those concerns are not ing, are a hindrance. “Certain cell Bates put family on the city payroll or cannot be addressed,” and added, phone providers are preventing gov- and was sentenced to 33 months. “When people see something, they ernment access where it is necessary Other cases have involved police need to call. They need to act. Yet to get the job done. They have made corruption, with charges against po- many don’t.” Many avoid involve- FBI work more difficult. Counter to lice for stealing drugs, dealing drugs, ment, citing, “a worry that it will be what you read in the news, we do not doing drugs, planting evidence, rob- bad for business or fearing retribu- willy-nilly go about wire-tapping. bing and in one case, “conspiring tion, and then we have to subpoena There are numerous approvals from behavior by a policeman to kill an- and it all takes time,” he said. multiple departments required, and other police officer who wanted to a Federal judge must determine if testify in a case,” he said. While most people operate fairly, there is probable cause,” Beeckman there is always room for corruption explained. On the plus side elec- FBI methods of investigation run when, “Somebody has some sort tronic document storage can make it the gamut. “And it’s not like what of power to cost or save money or easier to retrieve records going back 2 MAC Quarterly Newsletter Municipal Advisory Council of Michigan Buhl Building 535 Griswold, Suite 1850 Detroit, Michigan 48226 Phone: 313-963-0420 800-337-0696 FAX: 313-963-0943 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.mi-macsite.com SPRING 2015 for years unlike paper ledger records wise companies cannot get anything The FBI’s goal is to teach foreigners kept in the past. done.” By way of story he related a about the American justice system, meeting with a woman from India, how trials work, and steps in an in- Beeckman said while in Detroit. “She said, vestigation. It’s meant to benefit for- the public is the main ‘You Americans, eigners and American companies source of information you don’t know how with aspirations of doing business for FBI public corrup- good you have it.’ globally. tion investigations, the And then described FBI often works in tan- a relative of hers who About Bob Beeckman dem with other agencies wanted a divorce but Supervisory Special Agent Robert to gather facts, including because the judge F. Beeckman has a bachelor’s de- the Attorney General of- kept getting pay- gree in English from Michigan State fice, police departments ments [bribes], he University, and a J.D. from Thomas and other groups. “We refused to grant it. Cooley Law School. Following law work together and un- And finally the wom- school, he worked as an assistant like what you see depicted on tele- an’s lawyer said, ‘Hey there’s nothing prosecuting attorney in Saginaw vision, the FBI operates within the I can do for you.’ She was stuck.” County, Michigan. After leaving law,” he added. In one case involving the prosecutor’s office, Beeckman the Detroit City Water and Sewer- Beeckman has traveled to Ro- joined the F.B.I. After completing age Department, Beeckman teamed mania, Hungary, Zambia, and the the F.B.I. Academy, Beeckman was with the EPA’s CID, the Criminal Ukraine to conduct police training. assigned to the Detroit Field Office, Investigation Division of the En- With a team he’s also spearheaded where he has remained for 19 years. vironmental Protection Agency, mock trials in some of those coun- Beeckman currently supervises the to uncover millions ($70 million) tries. “I’ll travel with a Federal judge public corruption squad in Detroit. in extorted contracts. The Internal and a prosecuting attorney and we’ll As a street agent, he focused on law Revenue Service became involved use a mock trial to show develop- enforcement and municipal corrup- too. ing nations how the United States tion.