MoCo Inspector General Report: MCPS Vendor Using Montgomery County Departments to Promote Image #BusPatrol

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OIG/Resources/Files/PDF/oig_annual_report_fy_2019.pdf

August 11, 2018 screen shot from BusPatrol website.
The image and quote are no longer on the BusPatrol website.

While the above image and quote were removed from the BusPatrol website, the website is now using the MCPS logo to promote their product. 

BusPatrol website Nov. 29, 2021

MoCo Office of Inspector General Annual Report FY 2020: MCPS Preselected Vendor and Relied on Criminal Conspirators for Contract Vetting

The County learned about a vendor’s criminal conviction and other adverse information after entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to take over responsibilities related to a contract for the operation of the School Bus Safety Camera Program. The County learned that the vendor’s Chief Executive Officer and others associated with the contractor were convicted of crimes related to the operation of a similar camera program in another state. We found that MCPS used a “bridge contract” to facilitate the award of a contract to a preselected vendor. 

We found that County officials relied, at least in part, on information provided by one of the criminal conspirators in initially vetting the vendor and the program and continued to rely on vendor supplied information to determine the viability of the program. We also established that the County and vendor had not entered into an expected revenue agreement.

In response to our report, the CAO stated that the County would amend administrative procedures to require comprehensive vetting, more detailed work descriptions, and metrics. After our report was issued, the County entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with the vendor where they will obtain forty percent of all fines collected. Additionally, the vendor agreed to pay MCPS an additional $1.6 million in revenue-sharing. [Publication Number OIG-20-002: Montgomery County Police Department/Montgomery County Public Schools: Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the School Bus Safety Camera Program]...

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OIG/Resources/Files/PDF/FY20_AnnualReport.pdf

School bus camera contract under review in Montgomery Co.

Montgomery County, Maryland, schools plan to renegotiate a contract to put stop arm cameras on its school bus fleet, and the county’s inspector general wants more documentation.

Megan Davey Limarzi, who was appointed inspector general in September, noted the current contract is “slightly unusual.”..

...Glass said he was confused by some of the terms of the contract, and cited redactions in the original agreement...

 https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2019/11/school-bus-camera-contract-under-review-in-montgomery-county/?fbclid=IwAR0vu6_dfe7MDlhQRg9o0GzqJ9IoUooKFEh_YMgR46R6rDxhEVENKx3KfRc

FBI News: Putting a Stop to Public Corruption Dallas Officials Lined Pockets with Proceeds from Stop-Arm Bus Cameras @mcps @mcpnews @mococouncilmd

Several years ago, the school transportation provider in Dallas added stop-arm cameras to their school buses to keep students safer and bring in revenue from traffic tickets.

Taxpayers ended up paying millions of dollars for the cameras—but they brought in little revenue.

The school transportation provider continued to buy the cameras because the camera company lined the pockets of multiple public officials. And as a result of an FBI and Internal Revenue Service investigation, those involved in the scheme are now serving prison sentences.

Robert Leonard Jr., CEO of the company that manufactured the cameras, paid several bribes to benefit his company, including $450,000 in multiple cash payments, trips, and other gifts to Dallas City Councilman Dwaine Caraway. In exchange, Caraway cast votes on the council in favor of the cameras.

“They needed an ordinance to ticket drivers who were caught passing the camera,” said Special Agent Erik Tighe, who investigated this case out of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office. “Caraway was instrumental in making that ordinance happen. He accepted bribes to continue the program.”

Tighe and the investigative team used a combination of human sources and financial analysis to unravel the network of bribes.

“They just kept using taxpayer funds as a piggy bank.”

Erik Tighe, special agent, FBI Dallas

Caraway pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion charges and was sentenced in April 2019 to 56 months in prison. Leonard pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges and was sentenced in May to seven years in prison.

Ultimately, the taxpayer-funded transportation provider paid the camera manufacturer $70 million for the cameras. They continued to pay even though the cameras were bringing in less revenue than they cost.

According to court documents, the program caused “significant and ultimately debilitating debt” for the transportation provider, which eventually closed due to that debt, forcing schools to find another transportation option for students.

“They just kept using taxpayer funds as a piggy bank,” Tighe said. “It had a huge impact on the community. Thousands of people were affected by this corruption.”

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/corrupt-public-official-sentenced-082919

Could MoCo Bus Fines Go to Paying Off Debt in Dallas Left by Failed Stop-Arm Camera Ticketing Scheme?

If any part of fines from stop-arm camera tickets ends up with the former CEO of Force Multiplier Solutions, Robert C. Leonard, then Montgomery County Public Schools use of this stop-arm camera system could end up with fine money connected to the litigation mentioned in the article below.

Also note this article says the FBI investigation is ongoing as of August 2018.  

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To pay off debt left by corrupt school-bus agency Dallas County Schools, officials are suing to recover funds from conspirators who defrauded taxpayers.

...The dissolution committee also filed a civil racketeering lawsuit seeking to recoup taxpayer money that was illegally funneled to corrupt officials and others involved in the conspiracy. Under federal racketeering statutes, plaintiffs can recover triple damages.

“I’m hopeful that we will get some money back,” said Alan King, chief executive officer of the dissolution committee. “The amount of money that they’ve lost is just staggering.”

“It was a conspiracy of a number of defendants and individuals that involved bribes, kickbacks, real estate fees and commissions paid,” added Stephanie Curtis, an attorney for the DCS dissolution committee.

The lawsuit’s targets include former DCS Superintendent Rick Sorrells, former DCS President Larry Duncan, and current Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, along with Louisiana-based school bus camera company Force Multiplier Solutions and its CEO Robert Leonard. A failed stop-arm camera ticketing scheme hatched by Leonard and then-Superintendent Sorrells back in 2010 precipitated the agency’s financial collapse.

Leonard’s associate Slater Swartwood, Sr. is also named in the suit. He was the first to be indicted on criminal charges in the DCS case, late last year. He pleaded guilty to federal money laundering conspiracy charges and gave federal prosecutors details of the multi-year conspiracy. Swartwood was the middle man who helped funnel millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from Leonard and Force Multiplier to Sorrells “in return for further agreements and camera-equipment orders.”

Sorrells repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but once Swartwood confessed, Sorrells admitted he abused his position to swindle taxpayers out of millions of dollars. As superintendent, Sorrells awarded $70 million in contracts to Force Multiplier in exchange for $3 million in bribes and kickbacks. He used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle that featured luxury vacations, expensive sports cars, and fancy jewelry. Sorrells pleaded guiltyin April to wire fraud and is set to be sentenced soon. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Duncan, who was president of the DCS board when then-Superintendent Sorrells and Leonard launched the stop-arm camera scheme, also denied wrongdoing. From 2012 to 2016, Duncan received nearly $250,000 in campaign contributions from Leonard and others connected with Force Multiplier that coincided with DCS board approvals of agreements with the company. Duncan claims the donations were legitimate, but it’s unclear why Louisiana residents would contribute to the campaign of a Dallas bureaucrat running unopposed. Duncan later gave some of that money to campaigns of other DCS board candidates, including Omar Narvaez, who’s now a Dallas City Council member...

MCPS Bus Camera Company: A private company equipped school buses with security cameras to capture drivers illegally passing the stopped vehicles. The firm then mailed citations to the drivers. The school districts were to receive a cut of the money collected. Two years later, none of the school districts has gotten a penny, and BusGuard... is defunct.

It was supposed to keep children safe and generate extra revenue for San Antonio-area school districts.

A private company equipped school buses with security cameras to capture drivers illegally passing the stopped vehicles. The firm then mailed citations to the drivers. The school districts were to receive a cut of the money collected.

Two years later, none of the school districts has gotten a penny, and BusGuard, the Dallas-based firm that owned the technology, is defunct...

...BusGuard, along with Dallas County Schools and Force Multiplier Solutions, have been in the center of a federal probe that’s led to resignations and a guilty plea for federal wire fraud stemming from a bribery and kickback scheme, according to news reports. In November, Dallas County voters decided to shutter Dallas County Schools, which levied a property tax in Dallas County.

Dallas County Schools worked with Force Multiplier Solutions to market the technology as BusGuard.

School districts are filing claims with a committee formed after BusGuard’s downfall. It is charged with handling debts from those deals. NEISD was supposed to receive more than $600,000 last summer and is now evaluating how it’s going to proceed.

A group of Canadian investors who had originally licensed the technology for use in Canada has formed a company called BusPatrol that’s working to revive the program...

https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/politics/article/Council-committee-weighs-program-aimed-at-fining-13028951.php

Why Did Jack Smith Only Tell Board of Ed. Force Multiplier Had a Name Change? #FBI #ArrestofCEO #CompanyShutDown #NoContract

In June of this year, Superintendent Jack R. Smith submitted a memorandum concerning the school bus camera system to the Board of Education.

In that memorandum, Superintendent Smith said that the Board of Education had a contract with Bus Patrol America (BPA) (formerly Force Multiplier Solutions).  Superintendent Smith made it sound as if the company had changed names.  

June 2018 Memorandum from Superitnendent Jack R. Smith

But in the WTOP report on Monday on the arrest of the Force Multiplier Solutions CEO, the president of Bus Patrol America made it crystal clear that this was not just a name change, but a totally new company with no connection to the previous company.

...David Poirier, who previously worked for Force Multiplier Solutions and is now president of Bus Patrol America, said BPA is not just a name change, but a totally new company.
“It’s a brand-new company and has no connection with any of the previous ownership of Force Multiplier Solutions,” Poirier said...

That means that the Board of Education does not have a contract with the new company.  The Board had a contract with Force Multiplier Solutions and that company no longer exists.

Why didn't Superintendent Smith tell the Board of Education that the previous contract was no longer valid and that a new contract was needed with the new company?

Why is Superintendent Smith hiding the fact that the no bid bus camera scheme went up in smoke?
Shouldn't the Board of Education, the County Council, the County Executive and the public be told the truth?
Shouldn't the Board of Education be evaluating and voting on a new contract?

   FY 2018 Supp Approp Bus Camera Prog by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Photo Enforcement Company Working with Montgomery County Embroiled in Fraud, Bribery Scandal .@mcps .@mocoboe .@mcpdnews .@MoCoCouncilMD

...Force Multiplier Solutions has attempted to shake the scandal by rebuilding itself as an entirely new company under the name "BusPatrol America" and shedding the Force Multiplier brand.  “It’s a brand-new company and has no connection with any of the previous ownership of Force Multiplier Solutions,” BusPatrol CEO David Poirier stated to WTOP.  However both companies listed the address 8540 Cinder Bed Rd., Suite 400 Lorton, VA 22079 as their registered office, and David Poirier had been listed the registered agent for Force Multiplier Solutions, and several other Force Multiplier Solutions employees now work for BusPatrol...

http://www.mddriversalliance.org/2018/08/photo-enforcement-company-working-with.html

Breaking: WTOP: CEO of company that outfitted Montgomery Co. school buses with cameras pleads guilty to federal fraud charges

WASHINGTON — The man behind a business that put stop-arm cameras in school buses from Texas to Maryland has pleaded guilty to fraud in a federal case that included bribery and conspiracy.

Robert Leonard, former CEO of Force Multiplier Solutions, a school bus camera company that had a contract with Montgomery County, Maryland schools, entered his guilty plea in Texas on Aug. 9.

According to the federal plea agreement, Leonard paid $450,000 in a bribe and kickback scheme involving a Dallas City Council member. Leonard also admitted to paying a Dallas County Schools Superintendent more than $3 million in bribes and kickback payments. In return, Leonard’s company, Force Multiplier Solutions, was promoted for contracts with school systems in Texas...

https://awsstage.wtop.com/montgomery-county/2018/08/ceo-of-company-that-outfitted-montgomery-co-school-buses-with-cameras-pleads-guilty-to-federal-fraud-charges/