Full Report: Pigs in Suits — A Citizen Audit of Eagle Mountain City’s 2010-2013 Credit Card Statements
Question: How many law enforcement personnel does it take to successfully prosecute government corruption in Eagle Mountain, Utah?
Answer: Nobody knows since it’s never been done before!
If you want a quick primer on the city’s absolutely stunning misuse of public funds, all you’ve got to do is look at the following list. It contains the names of the restaurants and stores where the city’s employees made purchases with their city-issued credit cards:
For a very brief explanation of the worst parts of the cover-up regarding the city’s illegal spending read the following one-page executive summary:
Pigs in Suits — Executive Summary
If you really want to delve into the nitty-gritty details of the city’s corruption (budget fraud, misuse of city vehicles, out-of-control salaries and benefits, dirty state auditors, corrupt newspapers, and Mayor Pengra’s ongoing spending problems), please read the full “Pigs in Suits” report. It’s worth it. I promise.
Full Report: Pigs in Suits — A Citizen Audit of Eagle Mountain City’s 2010-2013 Credit Card Statements
With so much documentary evidence of the city’s corruption you’d think that it would be relatively easy for the state’s investigators, auditors and prosecutors to punish the city’s employees, but so far, no one has been held accountable. Unfortunately, this has been par for the course in my dealings with all of the state’s law enforcement officials.
· In January 2013 I filed my first complaint with the Utah County Attorney’s Office (Jeff Buhman-R) expecting swift justice. Instead, they passed the buck to the Utah State Auditor (John Dougall-R).
· While I was waiting for the State Auditor to do his job, I filed yet another complaint on September 5, 2013 with the Utah County Attorney’s Office about possible election fraud, which they also refused to investigate.
· On February 24, 2014 the Utah State Auditor issued his report on Eagle Mountain City. This report gave the city a pass on the worst of its abuses. His office later reported to me, “In our view, the issues we reported did not rise to the level of criminal activity.”
· On April 4, 2014 I sent the Utah State Auditor my initial analysis of the city’s outrageous credit card spending. They never responded even though they promised to do so.
· On April 13, 2015 I filed yet another complaint with the Attorney General’s (Sean Reyes-R) newly formed Special Investigations and Public Corruption Unit (SIPCU). They sent it back to the Utah County Attorney’s Office for review even though that office had twice before refused to look into anything.
· On June 23, 2015 I wrote Nate Mutter, the section chief of SIPCU, “How long do I have to wait for the Utah County Attorney’s Office to not do its job before I can appeal to your office again?” No reply.
· On October 5, 2015 I filed my last appeal with Reyes’ office but I’m not holding my breath while I wait for a reply.
It seems like every government official at the city, county and state level has been waging a war of attrition against me by playing a never-ending game of hot potato with my complaints. No one wants them to land on their desk and when they do they either dismiss them, cover them up, or pass them on as quickly as they can to someone else. What they don’t seem to realize is that every rejection makes me even more curious about the mysterious yet powerful forces that are protecting my city’s corrupt officials.
The most surprising development has been Attorney General Sean Reyes’ complete unwillingness to prosecute government corruption in Eagle Mountain. While he’s made big news raiding massage parlors up and down the Wasatch Front, bolstering his image as a tough law enforcement officer, he’s been completely unwilling to touch any of the government officials who’ve been misusing taxpayer funds.
While Reyes claims that he has restored the public’s faith in the integrity of the Utah Attorney General’s Office, it looks as if he’s dirty like his predecessors from where I’m sitting in Eagle Mountain. After all, what kind of law enforcement officer creates a brand new public corruption unit and then refuses to let it prosecute public corruption?
If Beau Babka, a former Cottonwood Heights police officer, can be charged with a third-degree felony for using a government credit card to make $48.17 worth of personal gas purchases, the AG’s Office should be able to easily charge many of Eagle Mountain’s employees with felonies too, especially since they collectively spent about $42k at area restaurants and are continuing to illegally withhold dozens of credit card statements that may contain even more criminal transactions.