back to article Tech biz boss slipped Detroit's IT chief bungs in restaurant bathrooms to bag software deals, prosecutors claim

The boss of an IT services provider bribed a top Detroit city official to win lucrative contracts for his biz, prosecutors in the US have claimed. Parimal "Perry" Mehta, 54, of Northville, Michigan, was charged this week with eleven counts including bribery and wire fraud for a series of payments he was said to have made to …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    Has the jury considered...

    That maybe those bathrooms have that nasty, scratchy bus station TP, and Mr. Dodd wanted something a little softer?

  2. oneeye

    Democrat Run for over 50 years!

    This ain't nothin! But I'm really amazed elreg would put any Democrats in a bad light. Where's kirin? I'm sure he would like to spin this one? Oh? He's too busy ripping on the Republicans you say? Hummm?

    1. diodesign Silver badge

      Re: Democrat Run for over 50 years!

      match story.subject.politics

      {

      Republican => "Biased lefty commie Bernie Killary morons!!!",

      Democrat => "Wow lol u guys slipped up here covering this up!!!",

      _ => "El Reg sucks"

      }

      1 out of 10. Failed troll.

      C.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Democrat Run for over 50 years!

        1 out of 10. Failed troll.

        To be fair, they're really having to work overtime today to try to distract anyone who might otherwise be thinking about dodgy memos and subversion of the FBI.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

  3. Jos V

    Really?

    Better not try getting business in certain Asian countries (and probably elsewhere around the globe). Taking your customers out to certain establishments for a night of entertainment will set you back a bit more than a measly $400...

    1. DontFeedTheTrolls
      Happy

      Re: Really?

      How much is a seat at the (former) Presidents Club Dinner?

    2. GrapeBunch

      Re: Really?

      Wouldn't taking a client out to dinner or other entertainment be a legitimate and deductible business expense? Whether the civic official was allowed to accept it would still be in question. It was the cashness of the payment that made it a no-no. And at less than one-half of one percent, a bargain. Or am I showing up myself as an ingenue in the World of Graft (American meaning)? Suggests a title for a video game, MeinGraft.

  4. My other car is an IAV Stryker
    IT Angle

    Elsewhere in southeast Michigan

    Other bribery scandals involving anything but IT:

    - City/county towing contracts, affecting Detroit and the next county to the north, Macomb.

    - City/township trash hauling contracts, involving many communities in Macomb County, and resulting in the heads of a family-named "environmental services" company to resign, just after ALSO selling their company to a Canadian firm. (Said firm quickly decided to change the name and logo to their own, adding overlays to or repainting the whole fleet of trucks.)

    We're just a whole region full of corruption, aren't we? Making Kwame Kilpatrick proud (look it up!).

  5. RobThBay

    Honest Services Mail and Wire Fraud

    Would it be worse if it was called "Dishonest Services Mail and Wire Fraud"??

  6. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge

    Cheap

    Based on some of the kickbacks I've heard rumored, conducting them as cash transactions would have involved dragging large suitcases into the men's room.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  7. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
    Terminator

    obRobocop

    "Think it over, creep."

  8. Stay Classy

    Ahh man, they got us too.

    Got a close relative who works 'high-up' for the City of San Diego, Cali. They just began implementing an Accela software platform in a similar dept to the one in Detroit. A platform was originally being developed in house then word came down from above that they had signed a 'Big Money' contract to implement Accela. Word on the street is that a top man in IT quit shortly after the contract was signed. Then implementation ran into serious delays. Apparently integration isn't always as smooth as the sales people say it will be, or does the program necessarily do all the things it was supposed to. Not that things ever really run smooth in bureaucratic municipalities, but now, after this article I'm can't help but wonder who picks this software? and Why?

    Not that you Brits keep track but San Diego has a long history of the city making really terrible financial decisions. Mayoral candidates taking bribes, huge unfunded pension deficits, terrible contracts with sports teams(chargers), among countless other.

    but...the weather is amazing

  9. Chairman of the Bored

    Shake on it?

    Excellent turn of phrase. Could also try "achieve better market penetration"; "Detroit's up and coming politician"; "greasing a govt official"; "after a wet, stiff drink..." Too easy.

    Seriously though- this is Detroit. Where the weak are killed and eaten. If this is the most significant crime that took place on that day I'll eat my hat...

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