Feds Closing in on Redflex; The Arrests Have Begun

From WarOnDriving.com

Not only is this the first domino to fall in what’s likely to be a long line of destroyed political careers scattered from coast to coast in the U.S., but it’s also another lie that Redflex has been caught in.

For months now, they’ve been denying that their company or anyone associated with it is being investigated by the Feds.

Well, that’s an interesting claim, in light of today’s arrest of the man at the center of the Redflex-City of Chicago Bribery Scandal, as a result of an ongoing Federal Investigation. 

The news of that arrest broke today in the Chicago Tribune: 

“Charges Filed Against ex-City Hall manager of red light camera program”

Then it was later picked up by NBC Chicago:

“Former Red Light Camera Manager Charged with Bribery”

You may remember that this ex employee of the city of Chicago, John Bills, was named as being the architect $124 Million scheme to steer Redflex contracts to the city. For his trouble, according to the local NBC affiliate, he was awarded a very handsome takeaway: 

A retired Chicago official who managed the city’s red light camera program for almost a decade was arrested Wednesday for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to steer city contracts to Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc.

John Bills, 52, is accused of receiving cash bribes and other forms of payment, including a $177,000 condominium in Arizona.

We’ve said all along that this scandal will eventually lead to the demise of Redflex and this arrest is actually ahead of schedule. When Bills sings like a canary to get some sentencing leniency, who knows what will come out of his mouth.

Better run for cover, politicians with Redflex ties. This won’t be pretty.

And as for Redflex denying that former Arnold, MO councilman and the creator of WrongOnRed.com was telling the truth about the Federal investigation? Well he has a little something to say about that. We asked Hay for his thoughts on the matter and he put them in their place:

“Redflex has no shame, and no qualms with deceitful statements. Just Monday, a representative of the City of St. Peters, MO read a letter in an attempt to thwart the St. Charles County Council from allowing their residents to vote to ban Redflex’s systems. The letter supposedly written to them by the “Redflex CEO” stated that there was “misinformation” being spread and that Redflex and their employees were not under any indictment, or Federal Investigation in 13 states for bribery, fraud, or corruption.

I find this denial by Redflex to be particularly laughable in light of the unsealing of the first criminal complaint and arrest of John Bills in the US Attorney’s supposedly “non-existent” Federal investigation. They would not be Redflex, if they did not deny the painfully obvious.”

Redflex also issued a laughable release to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in advance of what should be yet another blood letting. If you need a cheap laugh, here it is [link].

Needless to say, this saga will continue in entertaining fashion.

Pictured above: John Bills locked up in his cell and preparing to sing..

Phoenix Runs for Cover from Scandal – Where does the next Redflex Shoe Drop?

Who will be next to be caught up in Redflex’s scandalous wake and find themselves nursing door knob inflicted bruises on their rear end?

Redflex already admitted it on their investor call, “There will be other geographies where bribery was taking place.”

Geographies was an interesting choice of words by the new Redflex EVP. Could that “geography” be Phoenix…. or could it be ARIZONA? That’s right DPS, we’re looking your way.

Where else is the bribery happening? Redflex says their shoddy internal investigation has uncovered two other locations, but of course that’s just a cover story. Of course there are more than two and it’s hard to imagine that bribery isn’t just standard operating procedure at Redflex.

So, where else has bribery happened? It has to be in Arizona, though there is no publicly available evidence to back it up, yet.

If you’re a politician you have two choices.

Choice A: Continue to run for cover and deny, deny deny. Then go to bed every night just hoping on top of hope that your name is never revealed. Have fun with that nightmare.

Choice B: Spill the beans on your cohorts before they do the same thing to you. It will make your involvement seem miniscule and may actually propel your career. Be the one who tells the truth about the Redflex scam and see your stock skyrocket.

It’s a pretty easy choice to make, but of course Arizona legislators like Rep. Karen Fann, Rep. Sonny Borrelli, Rep. Victoria Steele and Rep. Juan Escamilla choose to run for cover because they prefer cowardice to valor.

Meanwhile in Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Tempe, Chandler, El Mirage, Prescott Valley and everywhere else that Redflex has left their stain, the city council members are hiding under their desks and silent.

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Redflex in Shambles: Karen Finley Flees Along with 2 Other Top Execs

Arizona, this one’s for you.

More fallout from the Redflex (we’re too corrupt for) Chicago Scandal. This time investors and bought politicians should be running for cover, deep cover. That being said…..

Memo to Arizona Politicians:

You have refused to do anything about a system that was too corrupt for Chicago and for that you will pay dearly. Yes, THAT Chicago – the one whose mayor is Rahm Emanuel.

Members of the Arizona Republican Party, like Rep Karen Fann for example, have been given opportunities to ban Redflex and their scamera boxes from the roadways of Arizona, multiple times. Your party platform specifically states you are to oppose photo radar.

However, when given legislation (SB 1352, SCR 1029, HB 2579) or a wildly popular initiative that would get rid of Redflex and their unconstitutional system of phoney baloney ticketing, all we hear are excuses. It’s deafening and you should be ashamed of yourselves.

For the democrats who claim to give a rip about civil liberties – your defense of photo radar makes you a complete joke.

The game is ending and so is your career. Deal with it.

Speaking of people whose career is over with, Karen Finley, Redflex CEO aka the Wicked Witch of the West is done, fired, adios.

Gone with her are two other top executives, the CFO and top attorney (General Counsel). The Redflex Death Watch is currently entering it’s 4th week and we’re on the third halt of trading their stock. It will resume trading on Tuesday in Australia and so far the predictions are not good.

This house of cards has been swaying violently ever since Janet Napolitano installed their ring of spy cameras across Arizona highways only to skip town and head to D.C. The Redflex Chicago Scandal (yet to be named) will end the company as we know it. Investor confidence is shattered and will likely result in a sale with a measly sum compared to the 2011 bid by the Carlyle Group and Macquarie.

They should have done the deal and now they’re out of luck.

“Out of luck” is the best that any politician in Arizona who has defended photo radar or taken money from Redflex and their lobbyists can hope for. Behind bars is another scenario.

Some advice to Reps Karen Fann, Sonny Borrelli, Victoria Steele and Juan Escamilla – you’d better give any money back you took from the Redflex Gangsters and vote YES on the “Photo Radar Prohibition” bill when it goes to a floor vote in the AZ House. If this company and their kind is too corrupt for Chicago, think about what’s about to happen in Arizona.

This is just getting started. The cameras are coming down!

Who knew it would be Chicago that finally crushed Redflex?

Redflex and American Traffic Solutions Dirty Scheme for “Clean” Elections

There has been a lot of whining down at the state capitol in the last two weeks as anti-photo radar/red light camera activists have applied serious pressure on legislators to cosponsor and support HB 2579.

They’ve used every excuse in the book and here are some highlights:

“I don’t cosponsor any bills, that’s just my policy.”

“It doesn’t matter if a bill has cosponsors and you should leave it up to the bill sponsor to contact them.”

“If I cosponsor this bill, another legislator who doesn’t like me might kill the bill to even the score.”

“I really wanted to cosponsor, but I just couldn’t find the time to go over and sign my name on it before it was filed.”

“You’ve missed some (arbitrary or made up) deadline and I’m no longer allowed to sign on.”

“All the phone calls and emails are a turn off and you should really back off before you upset your reps and they vote against your bill.”

These are what we call excuses and poor ones at that.

The real deal is that your legislature is mostly bought and paid for by photo ticket money that funds their campaigns.

From WarOnDriving.com

The Redflex scandal in Chicago isn’t going away, any time soon. Politicians who may or may not be in bed with the camera vendor in other cities and states may claim that Chicago’s corruption doesn’t apply elsewhere.

Anyone using this excuse is either lying, ignorant or both.

Let’s take the entire state of Arizona as an example. More than 10 municipalities, such as Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Tucson, Chandler, Prescott Valley, Surprise, etc still use a combination of speed or red light cameras. Despite the fact that photo tickets sent by mail are not legally binding in Arizona, millions of dollars in fines are still collected.

10% of that money goes into a fund ironically called “clean elections,” which provides public funding to political campaigns, like members of the Arizona Senate and House of Representatives. These folks, not coincidentally, are responsible for allowing photo radar and red light cameras to litter the roads and scam Arizona motorists.

What’s also NOT a coincidence is that 80% of candidates for Arizona Legislature use “clean” election money to fund their campaigns. If you connect the dots, that means that Redflex and American Traffic Solutions fund their operation and basically own them. If a bill (currently HB 2579) to ban them passes, most of that clean election money will instantly vanish. The political gravy train would stop dead in its tracks and there would be quite a few state senators and reps scrambling to find a way to fund re-election in 2014.

Those are the hard facts and they’re undeniable. Chicago-style corruption with backdoor payola is still likely to be going on, but the scheme in Arizona is right there in plain sight.

[CONTINUE STORY]

BREAKING: Redflex Exposed by Chicago Media, Rejected by City

From WarOnDriving.com

Redflex Crushed by Chicago Media, Blogs; Loses Bid for Speed Cameras

The Chicago Tribune has been busy exposing the already well known connection between Rahm Emanuel, Redflex Traffic Systems and high dollar lobbyists.This time the damage was a bit more fatal to Redflex, who has now lost out on the lucrative speed camera dragnet, which Emanuel has forced down the throats of his electorate. And their red light scamera program in Chicago (the largest in the U.S. with 384 cameras) is now in jeopardy.Local media and blogs have begun piling on the beleaguered Australian camera vendor today, even printing the rejection letter [link] from the city for the speed camera contract proposal.

The whole matter is allegedly based on unreported hotel bills paid by Redflex for John Bills, a Chicago Dept. of Transportation official who oversaw their operations within the city, that amout to $910. It’s hard to believe that there isn’t more to this particular scandal than just that ethical blunder.

The Expired Meter, a motorist blog in the Windy City summed up the series of events quite nicely, but this is still a developing story:

More on this story from other major media outlets in Chicago:

>City axes speed camera firm’s bid, citing delay in reporting ethics case (Chicago Tribune)

>City’s Red-Light Camera Vendor Under Scrutiny (NBC Chicago)

>Speed camera contract bid thrown out (WGN TV)

>City Tosses Bid By Red Light Camera Vendor For Speed Camera Contract (Chicagoist)

Rahm Emanuel’s Redflex “Police State” Surveillance Grid

They are calling them “safety zones,” but they’ll cover near 70% of the city of Chicago according to a report by The Chicago Sun Times below.

This map outlines the consequences of a bill that just passed through both houses of Illinois legislature. If Governor Quinn signs off on this monster, the bulk of the city of Chicago will become eligible for surveillance by a profit driven, corrupt foreign corporation, Redflex Traffic Systems. This is clearly not about safety.

[READ MORE]

Another Chicago Suburb Dumps Red Light Cameras

This can’t bode well for Rahm Emanuel’s proposed Big Brother expansion in Chicago to drive up revenues. Redflex is out of another Chicago suburb, Naperville, by the beginning of 2012.

Naperville city council made a move back in July of 2010 that ultimately doomed the program. After complaints from residents that the system was unfair, they dropped the “right on red” tickets which accounted for a vast majority of the citations issued  by the system.

Immediately after that decision, citations dropped across all for intersections with red light cameras by up to 65%.

[READ MORE]

Redflex Speed Cameras in IL to Ticket Drivers for 1 MPH Over?

Rahm Emanuel’s speed camera bill, also known as HB-3851 in the Illinois Legislature has no threshold for speed written into it. (HB-3851)

What this means is that a “violation” of just 1 MPH over the speed limit could end up costing Chicago motorists $100.00.

[READ MORE]

Rahm Emanuel Desperate for Some Speed… Cameras…

Chicago is the so-called “Red Light Camera Capitol” of the United States. Their residents would be hard-pressed to argue with that title.

But now, Mayor Emanuel wants to add speed cameras to the Windy City’s repertoire of revenue extractors despite his promise over the summer that he wouldn’t “nickel and dime taxpayers.”

[Continue Reading]