Attorney General Jim Hood issued the following press release.
Attorney
General Jim Hood announced today that the State of Mississippi has
settled its claims with Global Tel*Link Corporation for $2,500,000.00.
“I
am pleased with Global Tel*Link for cooperating and quickly resolving
this matter with the State’s taxpayers,” said General Hood. “As a
company that continues to contract
with the State, Global Tel*Link quickly approached our office seeking
settlement after the Epps scandal. Due to their cooperation, we have now
resolved this matter.”
This
settlement ends the second of 11 civil actions the Attorney General
filed on February 8, 2017, accusing 10 individuals and 12 out-of-state
corporations of using alleged
“consultants” as conduits to pay bribes and kickbacks to
then-Commissioner Epps for the awarding and retention of MDOC
contracts—all while defrauding the State through a pattern of
misrepresentation, fraud, concealment, money laundering and other
wrongful
conduct, arising from the Epps Bribery Scandal. To date, the Attorney
General has recovered $4,500,000.00 on behalf of Mississippi taxpayers
related to the MDOC Prison Bribery Scandal.
“We
will continue to aggressively pursue these remaining cases not only to
disgorge these other companies and individuals of their ill-gotten
profits, but also the value of
the public contracts. Before this is over, companies that aren’t
willing to do right by Mississippi taxpayers will wish they never heard
the word ‘consultant’ or ‘bribe’ in the state of Mississippi,” said
General Hood. “Corporations who play these illegal
games with Mississippi taxpayers’ money should take note that the state
of Mississippi will get its money back and then some.”
13 comments:
"...disgorge these companies of their ill-gotten gains..."
Sounds like something Bryant's speech-writers come up with. I guess 'claw back' has become passe', although it would sound more manly for a guy running for gubnor.
Have all charged criminals been tried?
So if you are a company that uses consultants to bribe public officials in Mississippi you simply need to call the AG's office and offer money to make your liability go away? Good to know
At least someone in State Govt. is doing his/her job!
So, lemme guess. The settlement by Attorney General Hood will be deposited into the general fund. And the legislators still cut his budget. Sheesh!!!
Is there any way for the company to recover this money so that it can remain profitable? If the company doesn't regain the lost profits how can it pay everyone on the payroll?
Can they jack the pricesw even higher so that the prisoners and the prisoner's families pay off this fine? Otherwise lobbyists and CONsultants could be taking it high and hard where it hurts.
How did this company overcharge the State of Mississippi? I guess I'm stupid, but I never saw how the company is any richer for this contract than any other service provider would have been.
See, here's how it works. State of MS has several different divisions. Division 1 may have a contract with Company A for pens. Division 2 may have a contract with Company B for pens and so on. None of these Divisions know who buys pens from whom until it comes out that each division is paying a different price for the same pen. Then our legislature passes a law that says all divisions have to buy from the same pen company. Those legislators just happen to have a friend or relative at the pen company, so naturally they get the contract. Then state employees have to use the cheapest while our Legislators sign their Tico's checks with Mont Blancs.
Beavis: Ha. He said Pen.
Butthead: I saw that. Chortle. That's where Epps is. snort.
And Cecil McCrory is still not in prison?? Oh, I forgot he is
still cooperating. How much cooperating is left????
McCrory has been so crooked for so long that he and other people think he has a right to be crooked.
Why is it so hard for some to understand some have the right to break our laws? Some are above the laws for the common man.
I called Sid Salter in 2006 to tell him that Epps was corrupt. How did I know? because I worked directly for Epps and MDOC, and saw it directly. I told Salter that I did not want to disclose my name but would be glad to provide him all the information he needed to expose how corrupt Epps and his ilk were.
Salter told me literally to "get lost." He said he "doesn't accept information from 'anonymous sources.''
9:18, either times have changed quite a bit since 2006 or Salter was one of those connected to special friends.
Now almost all news media comes from anonymous sources. If not for anonymous sources there would not be any news media.
When a person tells you they are not interested in anonymous sources you should take another look at that person.
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