BALTIMORE (AP) FBI and IRS agents raided the homes and offices of Baltimores embattled mayor today amid widening probes to determine whether she used sales of her childrens books to disguise government kickbacks.
Dave Fitz, an FBI spokesman in the agencys Baltimore office, said agents with the FBI and the IRS criminal division in Washington were searching both of Mayor Catherine Pughs homes and her offices at City Hall, as well the home of a top aide and other places. He said he couldnt release more information because the warrants are sealed.
Pugh has been facing mounting calls for her to resign over a scandal involving her self-published childrens books, which she sold to a health plan that does business with the city, as well as to the University of Maryland Medical System, on whose board she sat while serving as a state lawmaker. Pugh sold $500,000 worth of the books to the $4 billion hospital network over the years, and meanwhile pushed legislation that would have benefited the regional system.