The public-corruption investigation that paralyzed Cuyahoga County government Monday unraveled the political and business ties of the county's most powerful and colorful players: Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and Auditor Frank Russo.
The federal investigation centers on allegations that they traded jobs and contracts for thousands of dollars of free improvements to their homes and properties.
The investigation went public when nearly 200 agents from the FBI and IRS simultaneously raided county offices, businesses and homes at 9 a.m.
The operation was so broad that the FBI brought in agents from Pittsburgh and used three U-Haul trucks to take away cartons of documents and other items. Dimora and Russo, who have spent their political careers in the limelight, stayed out of sight all day and were not available for comment.
The nearly inseparable duo built a Democratic machine by hiring friends and allies, which is the subject of a continuing Plain Dealer investigative series. And the two have helped the party control every elected office in the county for decades, partly through Dimora's role as county Democratic Party chairman.
But the investigation could end their control and hasten efforts under way by the legislature and governor to consolidate the county's elected offices.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/07 ... ahoga.html
Arsonist torched Cleveland councilman's home
A day after surviving a suspicious fire, Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman grappled with a nagging question: Does someone want him dead?
That is what Cimperman believes after investigators confirmed this afternoon that an arsonist torched his house Monday night, forcing the family to flee from their beds.
"It was attempted murder," he said in a telephone interview.
Officials found an accelerant in the ruins of the Tremont neighborhood house, which was destroyed. They have sent evidence to the state fire marshal in Columbus to determine what was used to start the fire, a spokesman said.
The councilman, whose Ward 13 includes downtown, Tremont, Ohio City and the St. Clair-Superior area, said his family had received no police protection as of 3 p.m.
He also said he had heard few details from investigators who are looking into a possible connection with more than 10 threatening messages the councilman has received since 2006.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/07 ... cou_2.html
