Dec. 12--LAWRENCE -- The state has ordered the police department to tighten controls over the way it disposes of seized property following the disclosure that its deputy chief arranged the swap of 13 cars -- including a Cadillac and a Lexus -- for four Chevys owned by a politically-connected car dealer.
Robert Nunes, the city's state-appointed fiscal overseer, ordered the reforms in meetings last week with Chief John Romero, City Attorney Charles Boddy and Finance Director Mark Ianello after finding the privately-arranged car swap violated as many as four state and federal laws and a directive from the Essex County District Attorney.
Nunes directed police to get approval from the city's procurement officer when it acquires or disposes of property and to record the transactions in the city's accounting system so that it can be part of the city's routine annual audit. He also directed police to get the approval of the mayor when they dispose of assets worth more than $1,000 -- although he could not say whether Mayor William Lantigua was involved in the car swap that caused Nunes to order the reforms.
"By implementing these new policies and procedures, we're ensuring that the transactions like the one we just discussed won't happen again," Nunes said, referring to the car swap. "We're putting systems in place so that these types of transactions will follow the appropriate process."
Nunes opened his investigation into the car swap after The Eagle-Tribune described it in a Sept. 18 news story. The newspaper reported that the deal was launched in an April 5 memo Deputy Police Chief Melix Bonilla sent Romero proposing to trade the 13 police vehicles -- including a Cadillac Escalade, Lexus ES 300, Acura SUV and Buick Century sedan -- for four Chevrolet Impalas owned by Santo Domingo Motors. Most of the 13 police vehicles had been seized in drug busts and many were being used as undercover vehicles.
The used car dealership, which has lots on Broadway and on Haverhill Street and specializes in exporting used cars to the Dominican Republic, is owned by Bernardo Pena.
Evidence of the relationship between the mayor and the car dealer can be found in police reports, political flyers and campaign finance reports.
On Dec. 29, 2010, Pena's girlfriend called Lantigua in an effort to block Pena's arrest after he rammed a car driven by a traffic enforcement officer who was ticketing his car, according to a police report. Romero said he received a call from Lantigua asking about the arrest as it was occurring.
On Feb. 19, Pena's dealership co-hosted a birthday party at a downtown nightclub for Lantigua that also was a fund-raiser for the mayor's campaign organization. Pena also has made separate contributions to the campaign organization.
The Eagle-Tribune reported that the 13 police cars swapped with Pena's dealership were not competitively bid or auctioned, that no other dealers were invited to make an offer for the cars, and that the deal was reworked in its final days so that two of the Chevys the city received had significantly more miles on their odometers than originally promised.
As Bonilla proposed it, none of the 13 city cars or the four Chevys would even be appraised. Romero said he attempted to put the brakes on the deal by ordering the appraisal early last summer, but by then most of the titles already had been swapped, records show.
Methuen dealer does appraisal
The appraisal, done by Motta Auto Sales of Methuen, concluded that the 13 city cars were roughly equal in value to the four Chevys. Nunes came to a different conclusion: he said the city lost $36,408 in the deal. The report he issued Nov. 21 said disposing of the vehicles in a private trade violated two state procurement laws, a federal procurement law and a directive from the district attorney. He said the deal also may have violated federal or state civil rights laws that guarantee due process for people whose property is seized because the city did not have title to one of the cars it swapped.
District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett and state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan also are investigating the deal. The FBI has questioned people involved in the deal.
Lantigua and Bonilla have not returned several phone calls seeking information about the car swap over the last two months, and did not respond for this story. Bonilla is a top political aide to Lantigua and managed his 2009 mayoral campaign.
Nunes said he did not believe Lantigua was consulted about the car swap, but said he has not questioned him or Bonilla about it. He said his investigation focused on process, not people. "I don't know what the mayor knew and what he didn't know," Nunes said.
He said Lantigua did not attend the meetings with Romero, Boddy or Ianello when Nunes ordered the reforms in the procurement process.
Romero said the department traditionally has disposed of vehicles in private deals, but said the deals typically involved only one or two cars and that the district attorney always signed off.
"We're taking direction from Bob Nunes and Mike Ianello," he said. "From this point going forward, tell us how it needs to be done and we'll do it that way."
Copyright 2011 - The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
