Posted at 6:05 AM, May 01, 2023
and last updated 5:59 AM, May 01, 2023
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The I-Team has discovered a 15-page federal lawsuit filed against the City of Buffalo, preceded by a raid of Buffalo City Hall, has been dropped and won't be prosecuted.
In November 2019, would-be whistleblower, Nona Watson, the former Executive Director of the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency (BURA) filed an action under the Federal False Claims Act.
She claimed there was a "well orchestrated fraud" inside City Hall that lead to the improper use of federal money.
In the lawsuit, Watson alleged if the money was used properly, it could have funded up to five projects a year in the city, and developed a "diverse pool of real estate developers from all backgrounds."
Watson said she saw first hand how this money was misused.
She claimed, Mayor Byron Brown and Brendan Mehaffy, the Executive Director of the Office of Strategic Planning made real estate decisions based on "their own personal agendas."
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The claim explains, "Mayor Brown has made decisions and approved previous projects without proper documentation and/or going through proper protocol. For another example, one such decision provided $2,750,000 to the church he attends. This type of behaviour [sic], misuse, and abuse of federal funds is also cause for delay regarding more recent projects."
The would-be whistleblower claims she was terminated after raising concerns about what was...
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