DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 7:16 p.m. December 16, 2008
GEORGIA
Perdue’s Ethics Commission appointment derailed
In 1996, jury found that lawyer ‘aided, abetted’ broker who made off with investors’ money
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
A Savannah lawyer gave up his appointment to the state Ethics Commission on Tuesday over a 12-year-old court verdict in which a jury found that he and his firm helped a Jacksonville real estate broker pocket millions from a group of investors.
The lawyer, Joseph “Rusty” Ross, said he and his firm handled the transaction properly but were penalized for the actions of an agent who took the money.
Perdue appointed Ross to the panel that investigates and rules on ethics complaints against politicians on Friday. Ross, a frequent Republican political contributor, had yet to be formally sworn onto the commission.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution questioned Perdue officials and Ross about the court case Tuesday. Perdue officials said they didn’t know about it before the appointment was made. On Tuesday Perdue staffers questioned Ross about it and Ross decided to relinquish the post.
Ross and his former law firm were told by a federal jury in 1996 to pay $8.14 million for helping a Jacksonville real estate broker make millions from a group of German investors, according to news reports.
The Jacksonville jury determined that Ross and the firm “aided and abetted” the broker in violating the investors’ trust.
In an interview Tuesday, Ross said he represented a broker who was buying land for the European investors.
“We closed the transactions properly and turned the money over to the agent and apparently the agent never gave the money to their client,” he said. “We did what we were supposed to do … we ended up paying the price for it.”
Ross said he didn’t recall whether he mentioned the lawsuit to Perdue officials checking his background before Friday’s Ethics Commission appointment.
However, he said the incident wouldn’t have precluded him from being a fair judge of ethics complaints.
“It’s a thing that happened in the past. I’m not proud of it,” he said. “Everybody can be a back-seat driver and say we should have done differently, but I’ve been a good, ethical lawyer for over 25 years. Unfortunately, lawyers do get sued sometimes.”
Over the past six years, Ross has contributed more than $3,000 to the campaigns of Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) and at least $1,250 to Perdue, according to Ethics Commission and Secretary of State filings. He has contributed more than $9,000 to Republican candidates and causes during that period.
Such donations are not unusual for commission members. At least three of the five current members have contributed to Perdue campaigns, for instance.
Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said the state did a background check on Ross, but didn’t find the lawsuit.
“As political as the Ethics Commission can get, the commission needs to be able to make decisions and be above controversy and accusations,” Brantley said.
Bill Bozarth, executive director of the ethics watchdog group Common Cause Georgia, said vetting is important for posts on state boards and commissions.
“In a case like this one, I’m sure they wish they had checked closer,” Bozarth said. “Given the nature of the 1996 federal case, it would be hard for Mr. Ross to serve without controversy.”
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Comments
By GaNative
Dec 17, 2008 10:41 AM | Link to this
Looks like everything Guv. Sonny DooDoo gets into is a mess. He is always knee keep in some questionable SHID. This is one crooked govenor.
By GaNative
Dec 17, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
Looks like everything Guv. Sonny DooDoo gets into is a mess. This is one crooked govenor.
By GaNative
Dec 17, 2008 10:39 AM | Link to this
Looks like everything Guv. Sonny DooDoo is a mess. This is one crooked govenor.
By verge
Dec 17, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this
There is corruption on both sides--
but the republicans are totally anti-urban and anything progressive (transit, green energy, etc)... when will they wake up and realize that metro Atlanta is over half of this state?-- perhaps not until they are totally out of power (again)-- I'll be doing everything I can to support the state Democratic party in the interim...
By OhComeOn
Dec 17, 2008 9:07 AM | Link to this
Funny how people who have never been involved in a business dealing that went wrong think that they know how everything works. Things happen in business that are sometimes out of the control of some individuals involved and, yes, sometimes innocent parties get sullied in the process.
Dems complain about the ethics of Republicans and vice versa. We should all know by now that there are dirty players on both sides and that they all sing the same song when the investigations start. That doesn't mean that everyone implicated is actually guilty. Nor does it mean that what happened 12 years prior should haunt a man forever, especially if that individual has an outstanding record otherwise.
By Repubsuk
Dec 17, 2008 5:43 AM | Link to this
The republican way is to lie and hide the facts until caught then deny until it is impossible to hide any longer and then to deny some more and then to resign for personal reasons unrelated to the issue.
By Dems in charge
Dec 16, 2008 10:09 PM | Link to this
Yeah, well at least he removed himself from the appointment. That's the republican way. But, holy than thou dems - a congressman in LA (freezer burn anyone) and a gov in IL (wanna buy a senate seat?), and don't get me started on Chris Dodd and Barney Frankie or Charles RanGOLD.....need I go on?
By SonnyNoCanDo
Dec 16, 2008 9:55 PM | Link to this
Sonny Perdue is worse than Bush. He is a blatant supporter of the big business and uber rich. He has done nothing to improve the mass transit to make ATL green. He courts the Chinese with ATL real estate. What disgusts me the most? He used to be a veterinarian and yet he still allows shelters in GA to use archaic gassing chambers where over 90,000 metro dogs and cats are murdered each year. More than the entire country of England. There is worse dirt on him, but that is his most disgusting legacy he is leaving Georgia. He has done nothing 'to leave GA a better place'. Just more urban sprawl, more predatory lenders, and more cruelty.
By Marcus
Dec 16, 2008 9:29 PM | Link to this
And of course what profession does the governor follow when he isn't running the state? We're to believe that a real estate linked fortune was made in Georgia without an awareness of a case like this, that Perdue had no clue that this was in the past of this appointee?
Yeah, right!
By bj
Dec 16, 2008 9:24 PM | Link to this
He didn't recall, huh? Doesn't that have a ring to it? I think I've heard somewhere it before. I'm sure that this incident "wouldn't preclude him from being a fair judge of ethics complaints." The question is, would the mind set that guided him during the dealings that lead to the 1996 suit also guide him on the ethics commission? (He seems to still think that his actions were okay. Apparently the jury disagreed.)
And isn't it amazing that those charged with the background investigation overlooked this little detail.
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