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..

Redflex, ATS and Red Means Stop Recruit Young Sockpuppeteer with Fake Twitter Following

The Scamera bandits and their hired apologists like Red Means Stop just can’t seem to help themselves. You may remember that Red Means Stop is bankrolled by Redflex and American Traffic Solutions. It’s so lovely when those two can work together to create nausea inducing phony public awareness campaigns.

Now that more and more courts and politicians have begun to reject ticket scameras, the only tactic left is to indoctrinate the youth, which is just what they’re attempting. The only question is how to find the right person to advocate for organized crime, masquerading as public safety. It looks like the scamera cartel found their gal in Jordan Hibbs. Hibbs is currently in hot water for purchasing almost her entire following on twitter, amounting to 18,000, to boost her profile. Looks like we have a perfect match! Read more below:

Redflex, ATS Front Group Props up “Political Tool” with Fake Twitter Following

WarOnDriving.com

The key to getting people hooked on bad habits for life is to start them young. Just ask tobacco and alcohol companies, who notoriously catered their ads to minors for decades.It serves as no surprise then, that a failing industry like photo ticketing would be looking to youthful advocates in an attempt to indoctrinate impressionable go-getters and score a new face for their scam. It looks like a woman named Jordan Hibbs, of ASU, has been snatched up by an American Traffic Solutions/Redflex front group. As it turns out, she may just be the perfect person to assume their spokes person roll. Jordan admits, she’s not afraid to “fake it” as long as it elevates her status in the process. More on that is coming up.

Scamera Company Propaganda is a Shadowy Game

This dark side of propaganda certainly has not escaped red light camera and photo radar companies. In fact, their astroturf front groups like Red Means Stop fill their coffers with hefty donations from the two profit-driven camera vendors, Redflex and American Traffic Solutions. The organization will then advocate for “safe roads,” but conveniently ignore best practices to achieve that goal, like longer yellow light times. They  instead claim the only solution is to put up cameras. It’s more than a cozy relationship, it’s dishonest and damaging to the safety goals they claim to advocate.

Sen John McCain with lobbyist group, Red Means Stop

Enter Jordan Hibbs, a high profile attendee of Arizona State University. She has amassed what would appear to be quite a following on Social Media, specifically Twitter, where she boasts 18k followers. That high of a number for someone who isn’t a public figure didn’t make sense to one ASU student who did some investigating and pointed out that most of this following was fake and probably purchased by Hibbs. Hibbs admitted as much in a mea culpa press release, posted on her website.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step, Jordan. But dark times await this young politico, or “Political Tool,” as AZCentral.com called her. She not only still works for Wrong on Red and ATS/Redflex via proxy, but she’s now listed at secretary for the group. If she was truly interested in advocating safe driving, she’d ditch the triangle of fraud that exists between her organization and the two vendors who make money by shortening yellow light times and lying about their products’ safety record.

Hibbs proudly boasts of her role with Astro-turfing Red Means Stop

Stick with these folks, Ms. Hibbs, and you can throw any hope of restoring integrity out the window. You’ll be longing for the days that you only had to apologize for buying some fake friends online.

Observe:

Former Redflex Executive: We Bribed Politicians in 13 States

WarOnDriving.com

For a calendar year, revelations about Redflex’s shady and illegal business practices have been fed to the public through a steady diet of damning admissions. Journalist David Kidwell of the Chicago Tribune has written about the subject comprehensively.[link to archives]

During the period since the first blockbuster article by Kidwell in March of 2013, Redflex has been hemorrhaging contracts and money, but curiously not in Arizona, which houses the Australian-based camera vendor’s U.S. headquarters.

Paradise Valley, AZ could not have turned a more blind eye to the corruption as they not only renewed with Redflex in 2013 for a whopping 5 years, but agreed to double the size of their contract and hardly even considered using a different vendor, such as American Traffic Solutions (ATS), who also operates nearby in Scottsdale.

Phoenix, AZ also renewed their contract with Redflex without even putting the issue up for public debate, which they later admitted was improper (code language for “illegal”).

Now that Redflex and their designated scapegoat, Aaron Rosenberg, have exchanged lawsuits it’s starting to become clearer that bribery wasn’t just an issue in Chicago, but “Standard Operating Procedure” for the camera vendor.

The former EVP, Rosenberg has not taken too kindly to the remaining brass at Redflex blaming all their transgressions on him and him alone. He’s firing back, not by proclaiming his innocence, but by presenting evidence that he was just a cog in Redflex’s bribery machine.

It’s getting ugly, real ugly.

With just a few pages released by Rosenberg’s attorneys, we now have black and white evidence that shows illegal campaign contributions and gifts being used to sway politicians and party officials in Florida and Arizona. More info will be released from Rosenberg’s side, but probably not until summer of 2014. [Lawsuit]

Here’s what we know so far:

Arizona – Illegal campaign contributions to both the Arizona Democrat and Republican Parties by Mr. Rosenberg that was reimbursed by Redflex and signed off on by then-CEO Karen Finley.

Florida – Two dozen state legislators and their wives were invited to an expensive dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse, which was paid for by the company and not reported. Internal emails and expense reports show the dinner cost over $3,200.00.

And this is just the beginning. Rosenberg is alleging bribery was all part of the standard ops in 13 states.

The latest from the Chicago Tribune foreshadows what’s to come:

In his counterclaim against Redflex, Rosenberg said he was simply “carrying out orders” and that other company executives also participated in a “pattern and practice” of wooing potential clients with perquisites including meals, golf outings, professional football and baseball games — all covered under a liberal company policy for “entertainment” expenses.

“A budget for these items was approved, and there was never a distinction between these types of entertainments and expenses that are considered gratuities and bribes,” Rosenberg alleged in the filing.

Rosenberg said that during his tenure Redflex “bestowed gifts and bribes on company officials in dozens of municipalities within, but not limited to the following states: California, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia.”

Arizona and Florida seem to be a main focus of Rosenberg and his attorneys and for good reason. Arizona is the hub, where the executives are housed and will almost certainly be where most of the bodies are buried. After all, Redflex “won” the competition with ATS for the statewide freeway photo radar contract from 2008-2010 and it certainly took more than just a convincing slide show to woo Janet Napolitano and the state legislature, who looked the other way while she jammed this massive program into a byline on the state’s budget.

Of course, Arizona Legislators in 2008 were way too ethical to accept bribes, right? Well actually, they would beg to differ with that – [Fiesta Bowl bribery scandal]

Mary Rose Wilcox, Redflex Apologist Busted for Lying about Car Accident

Mary Rose Wilcox, of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, who is little more than a crook with a fancy title, was in her little red Corvette, riding through the ‘hood.  Things went sideways in a hurry when it looks like she burned up a turn, most likely to impress her ride-along activist pal and somehow the front end of her car was mashed up pretty badly.

More from WarOnDriving.com

Ahhh, the infamous “red light runner.” Apparently this is a careless person who exists only to attempt to cross intersections during a red cycle just for thrills. This mythical creature is always used as an excuse to necessitate ticket cameras being placed at every street corner. “A camera will stop these people!” – the politicians and lobbyists always say. (Of course we know accidents always go up when scameras are installed)

Sometimes this thrill seeker can even run red lights that don’t exist! How mysterious! Well, that’s according to Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and her accomplice, Lydia Guzman. In an article published today in The Phoenix New Times, a “red light runner” was accused of causing an accident that damaged Mary Rose’s taxpayer-funded red Corvette.

[Continue Reading at WarOnDriving.com]

Somehow a “red light runner” ran a nonexistent red light at this intersection and smashed into Mary Rose Wilcox’s red Corvette. How would that be possible Mary Rose?

 

Redflex, ATS and PD License Plate Scanners Come Under Fire

Just as the Mayberry-ish Town Council in Paradise Valley sold their residents and visitors down the river to beleaguered Redflex Traffic Systems on a 5 year contract, media outlets are finally reporting on license plate scanners.

PV has agreed to install these scanners all over the town and they’re using Redflex to do it.

More from WarOnDriving.com:

Uncovered: License Plate Scanners Save, Store and Send Every Driver’s Info to DHS

Something more savvy motorists and privacy experts have known for years is finally being reported on.

Companies like American Traffic Solutions and Redflex, along with police agencies are scanning every driver’s license plate they come in contact with. That data is stored, saved for years in some cases and used for Federal data mining by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

It’s no surprise that (former) Secretary of DHS, Janet Napolitano would want to track innocent motorists and spy on their every day activities. Her now defunct freeway photo radar dragnet, installed and run by Redflex was performing that task on a massive scale in Arizona. She was quickly promoted to her post at DHS as “Big Sis,” which she resigned from last week ahead of what are likely to be major scandals brewing which will be far worse than this one.

Sadly, in Napolitano’s home state Arizona, some municipalities still have little regard for privacy, such as Paradise Valley. That town has just agreed to a 5 year contract extension with scandal-ridden Redflex Traffic Systems which will add license plate scanners to their data mining repertoire.

Hundreds of news outlets in the U.S. alone have reported on the findings by the ACLU that license plate data is stored for years by various municipalities, but one in Indianapolis spilled the beans that this info is being sent to DHS.

The video clip below paints a grim picture of out-of-control surveillance by police and private companies of innocent motorists.

Privacy experts like those at the ACLU want you to know that…

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.

–

Redflex Death Watch – Scandal Widens

Redflex circles the drain counterclockwise, for our Aussie friends

Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. may have just entered a black hole that investors, politicians and any other fools who have broken bread with these crooks will be unable to avoid getting sucked in to.

Welcome to the rabbit hole, Redflex apologists. This one’s going to be painful and deep.

3 more investor alerts [1], [2], [3], were sent out tonight regarding the fallout from the Chicago bribery scandal, none of them contained good news for the scamera vendor or their cohorts.

According to TheNewspaper.com,

The company reported profit for the six months ended December 31, 2012 were cut in half from $7.2 million to $3.6 million thanks to growing resistance to automated enforcement. The firm reported 101 installations were removed, but only 54 new locations were added in six months.

So far, the company has also spent $1.2 million in legal fees related to the Chicago scandal. When Chicago’s red light camera contract expires, Redflex will lose another 13.6 percent of its income. The company also warns of the possibility of bribery revelations in other cities.

“The current investigation may identify other instances of similar dealings with the city of Chicago and/or other jurisdictions,” Redflex admitted to investors.

The fact that Redflex is having to admit that this bribery scandal is just the beginning is very telling. They’re conceding that other bribery allegations are about to surface from other cities and states and there’s nothing they can do to stop it. Redflex Death Watch 2013 has reached a quickening pace!

Q: What does this mean for Arizona?

A: It means that every politician and bureaucrat in this state with ties to Redflex, including DPS, ADOT, Governor Brewer, almost every single state legislator since 2008 and city council members, including mayors, on the list below should be put on warning immediately. Chicago-style corruption will not be tolerated and certainly not when it’s been uncovered.

Cities in Arizona which have had contracts with Redflex and should launch bribery investigations of their own:

• Phoenix
• Scottsdale
• Paradise Valley
• Tempe
• Chandler
• Peoria
• Globe
• Surprise
• El Mirage
• Prescott Valley
• Star Valley

The Chicago Tribune is proclaiming that the Redflex bribery scandal “would rank among the largest in the annals of Chicago corruption.”  With the reputation Chicago has for massive corruption, this is a horrifying revelation for anyone associated with the company, especially those who could be locked up for accepting bribes.

Look out below mates, Redflex is circling the drain!

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?

FLASH: Redflex Traffic Systems Officially in Panic Mode

The Latest from WarOnDriving.com:

Far be it for a driving politics website like this one to make a judgment call on investing, especially in foreign trades.

However, it’s easy to spot a company who’s panicking as they’re usually the ones running around with their pants on fire.

From the “we swear this is standard procedure file,” Redflex Traffic Systems has been forced to announce a request for a trading halt on the ASX (Australian) where shares of Redflex Holdings, Inc are exchanged. [Announcement]

This is the second time this month Redflex has requested such a halt ahead of big news about the results of ongoing investigations into the company’s business dealings.

Since the February 6th announcement, shares of ASX:RDF are down 33%. Another such drop would place them well below $1.00 (AUS) per share, which would be near 10 year lows for the stock.

The company making the same move twice in the same month, along with all the other bad news out of Chicago spells trouble for Redflex, all over the globe.

Karen Fann and Stan Barnes Capitol Circus Act – Insult Arizona Activists

From January 2009 through June of 2010, approximately 1,700 volunteers of Arizona motorists and concerned citizens launched an effort called “Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar” to push back on the unconstitutional and dangerous freeway photo radar system installed by Janet Napolitano after being approved in the budget proposal by Arizona Legislature.

Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar or ACAPR collected north of 130,000 signatures using a measly sum of just over $4,000 in donations which mostly came from individuals in the group itself. These facts are indisputable and corroborated by the AZ Secretary of State Office, who even did an audit of the donations. Why? Because they didn’t realize how badly Arizona government screwed up by allowing for a network of Redflex spy cameras to be installed on AZ interstates and highways. The blowback was somehow unanticipated.

They just couldn’t believe that citizens could really put that much energy into fighting them with nothing in return other than the satisfaction of working hard to preserve their rights.

They were wrong. The effort was overwhelming, though it didn’t qualify for the state’s tough standards to be placed on the ballot automatically. Jan Brewer caved in and canceled the state’s contract with Redflex, but refused to put the citizens initiative on the 2010 vote, when she had the power to easily do it.

The cameras on the freeways indeed came down. Since that time, members of the CameraFRAUD group have been demanding legislature do their job and ban the rest of Redflex and American Traffic Solutions’ automated ticketing machines.

Yesterday, Representative Karen Fann [contact], chair of the Transportation Committee and Stan Barnes [contact], American Traffic Solutions horse’s ass lobbyist teamed up to make a mockery of the committee process. And while they were at it, they insulted the intelligence of their fellow Arizonans and then danced a little jig all over the shredded remains of our state constitution.

After hearing from just two members of this group, pro-camera lobbyists were paraded up one by one, each more delusional than the next, thanks to Fann’s appetite for statist grand-standing.

Then came Stan Barnes, the highest paid lobbyist in the state of Arizona who shills for ATS. He began by mocking the effort to get rid of his company’s cameras and then repeated lie after lie. Lies so ridiculous that audible laughing could be heard from the chamber.

Barnes: “A well funded, out of state group launched a citizens initiative against the cameras that failed to make the ballot”

Chamber: *Laughter*

Barnes calling $4,000 in just over 18 months “well funded” and ACAPR “out of state,” is an absolute joke and an insult to the hard work of this group which is still paying dividends for defenders of citizens’ rights.

Barnes designer jeans began to visibly shake as nervousness set in after that little liar’s rant.

However Barnes was just “doing his job,” as depressing as that is for hard working Arizonans. And his salary, in terms of our $4,000, makes him the equivalent of Goldman Sachs, Chase Bank, B of A or any other corporate welfare recipient/bailout baron in the state of Arizona. Barnes is well paid for his acting.

So well paid, in fact, that he has plenty of cash every cycle to donate the max amount to Rep Karen Fann’s campaign, records show. So Fann allowed for seemingly endless debate on a 1/3 of a page bill (HB 2579) “Photo Radar Prohibition” and throughout the proceedings, informed the other 5 members of the committee just how to kill it.

The most blatant act was visibly talking Rep Sonny Borrelli out of voting for HB 2579, after he said during debates that he would vote to send it to the House floor (yes vote).

Fann was counting votes and saw that hers would be the decider, so she leaned over to Borrelli (the committee vice-chair) and told him he had to switch to a NO. Borrelli caved to her demand voted no on HB 2579 then saying, in an effort to clear his conscience “My mother is retired LAPD and will kill me for this vote. She saw how rear end collisions went up with the cameras and hates them too.” Borrelli placed his no vote, giving Fann the cover she needed.

And they really expect the voters in their districts not to see through all this.

Every member of the committee who voted no, effectively told their districts that their job was NOT TO REPRESENT THEM, but to leave that up to someone else back home. They must be confused about why they go to the state capitol each session.

Fann clearly doesn’t understand her role as chair and allowed Stan Barnes, The Redflex contingency and her vice chair to turn the Arizona House of Representative Transportation Committee into a circus act, complete with the horse dung smell.

Arizonans aren’t buying it and this bill is likely to find its way to the House floor for a vote despite Fann and Barnes best efforts.