Thursday, June 2, 2011
Prosecutor had talked of possible investigation of land purchases.
Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said Tuesday that he would not comment on any matter concerning a possible investigation of recent land purchases by the Gwinnett public school system. Porter, the county's top criminal prosecutor, had mentioned in April that he was considering launching his own probe or seeking a grand-jury investigation. Doing nothing was "not viable," Porter said then. "I was hoping the school system would open their own investigation, but it looks like they are not willing to do that." "I’m afraid I can’t discuss whether or not I am investigating a particular land purchase or purchases," he responded Tuesday in an email. "To publicly discuss any investigation or even acknowledge the existence of an …
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Joe Whitley, former federal prosecutor, to lead investigation into school land deals since 1999.
Facing public criticism and a possible criminal probe, the Gwinnett County school system has launched an investigation of its land purchases. Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks said Tuesday that Joe Whitley, a former federal prosecutor and now a private attorney, is the choice to lead a "comprehensive" independent investigation of all school system land deals since 1999. The GCPS investigation is expected to take six to eight weeks. The controversy comes because of recent news reports that have questioned the system's integrity in some recent land deals. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that in four deals for school sites, developers made large, quick profits —as much as $1 million in one day, in one case—in selling parcels to the …
34.01507
-84.054459
Gwinnett County Public Schools
437 Old Peachtree Rd NW, Suwanee, GA
/articles/gcps-launches-its-own-probe-of-land-deals
1134519
/locations/4022143
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Top prosecutor may do his own investigation or ask a grand jury to look into the purchases.
The Gwinnett County District Attorney said Thursday that he may do a preliminary investigation of some land purchases by the Gwinnett County Public Schools or see if a grand jury wants to look into the matter. Danny Porter, the county's top prosecutor, said that news reports showing that GCPS deals that gave some developers large, quick profits -- as much as $1 million in one day, in one case -- might warrant a check of possible bribery. "I'm considering my options," Porter said. "One is to open my own investigation. I was hoping the school system would open their own investigation, but it looks like they are not willing to do that." He said another option is to "do nothing, but that is not viable." Porter also could ask the current grand …
34.01507
-84.054459
Gwinnett County Public Schools
437 Old Peachtree Rd NW, Suwanee, GA
/articles/gwinnett-da-may-probe-gcps-land-deals
1134519
/locations/3934970
Jennifer Falk
10:13 am on Friday, April 8, 2011
My humble opinion: GCPS is going to waste the taxpayers money by forcing a grand jury investigation instead of doing the right thing and conducting a transparent investigation. This will buy the district time to do what they need to do to mitigate their lack of oversight. Then there will be a fall guy - who they hope will be allowed to just resign. I think they are fast becoming students of the … more ›