GOOD NEWS:Ohio Supreme Court says the state may seize an ex-official’s $8 million in…
All Ohio Supreme Court justices have unanimously decided that the state may seize $8 million in assets belonging to Sam Randazzo, the former head of the Public Utilities Commission and man charged with FirstEnergy’s and Republican former House Speaker Larry Householder’s corruption scheme.
It was a ruling on a particular case’s technical difficulty. Republican Justice Pat DeWine’s opinion for the court said that while Randazzo was granted a hearing after the freezing of his assets, he was unable to challenge the decision to freeze them without one.
However, Randazzo loses since he is now defending against 11 charges of fraud and bribery in federal court. In order to get favourable treatment from the state’s utility regulator, he accepted a bribe from FirstEnergy before to taking on the role of PUCO chair. He has entered a not guilty plea.
Early January 2021, Randazzo moved $4.8 million in assets, shortly after he had resigned as PUCO chair after an FBI search on his house. He sold off four additional homes in Ohio and Florida and gave his son ownership of a $500,000 property.
In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in July 2021, FirstEnergy acknowledged paying Randazzo a bribe of $4.3 million. Attorney General Dave Yost joined Randazzo to a racketeering complaint he filed, along with former FirstEnergy executives Charles Jones and Michael Dowling, and a month later, he requested a hold on $8 million in assets. There had been no charges in the case at that point.
During the June oral arguments, Charles Miller, the state’s counsel, informed the justices that the state had to relocate because Randazzo was attempting to conceal his assets.
“What’s happening here is the disbursement of illicit money. This is precisely what’s taking place,” Miller said. In order to be impervious to criticism at the end of the day, all he wants is to take that money, run off with it, spend it, utilise it, shift it about, and gift something to his kids. And it has to stop.
Roger Sugarman, Randazzo’s lawyer, however, informed the court that the plea agreement isn’t evidence.
“FirstEnergy bought its way out of a criminal prosecution by agreeing to pay $230 million, and they made some other admissions,” Sugarman said. “However, upon reading our briefs and the record, you will see that all of the statements used against Mr. Randazzo in that particular instance are hearsay. It is unsubstantiated evidence.
Yost filed a civil complaint, which is still pending.
Householder was found guilty of racketeering in March and is now serving a 20-year jail term. Additionally found guilty in the case, former Ohio Republican Party head Matt Borges is now serving a five-year term. Borges requested an appeals court last week to reverse his conviction on the grounds that the case judge erred.
Cincinnati’s City Council is investigating a programme that might assist tenants in becoming owners.
The goal of a new programme being considered by Cincinnati City Council is to introduce tenants to the realm of property ownership.
When it comes to purchasing a house or a business property, money is often the largest obstacle to entry. Particularly for households categorised as low to middle-income, a Community Investment Trust would aid in bridging the gap between renters and owners.
This is how it goes: a charity borrows money to buy real estate. Subsequently, they established an investment scheme that allows low-income neighbours to purchase block shares on a monthly basis for a nominal fee of $10 to $100.
“It shows that their credit score is improved, they start using financial planning tools and they get more involved in their neighbourhood because they own something there,” said Jan-Michele Kearney, vice mayor. “It’s not just like they’re renting and thinking about moving, they actually own something, they can live in the building, or they can live in the neighbourhood.”
Tenants in a business building may pay more rent over time as the neighbourhood grows, increasing the short-term profit via annual dividends to investors. The value of the property rises over time as well. Making local and affordable real estate investment is the aim.
“We have lost out on generational wealth building, because over the years, homes have increased in value, and families have had something to pass down, to pass down to their children and grandchildren,” Kearney said. “A lot of Black and Brown families have been left out of that opportunity.”
On January 17, the Cincinnati Equitable Growth and Housing Committee may forward with a proposal to investigate this. City officials turned to Portland, Oregon, as a potential model for this.
John Haines, executive director of Community Investment Trust, said, “They’re motivated to invest in real estate. We put up some pictures in some areas of properties and said what if you could own this collectively, but we knew what their limitations were.”
Investors have unlimited cash out options. This programme carries no risk. The goal is to assist people in creating riches that will last generations.
Haines provided an illustration of a single property’s return on investment. The share price increased from $10 to $19.65 as of 2024, with an average annual dividend yield of 7.9%.
“30 commercial retail tenants are doing well, they’re doing better, because the neighbourhood owns the building, they feel like it’s more activated with the space,” Haines said. “It’s kind of created a community support of the building, and interaction between investors that’s made the neighbourhood stronger, more active, people vote now regularly when they didn’t before.”
There might be more obstacles in Cincinnati’s way of this program’s success. According to Haines, an organisation or organisation must take the initiative on a project this size that lasts for a long time. In order to assist with loans, neighbours would also need to cooperate with and convince the banks, as well as find commercial premises where this may be feasible.
“I think if you have the political will, and the right lead organisation, or a coalition of groups working to make it happen, then the funders and the banks are more likely to follow,” Haines said. “I think getting the entire community to get its arms around a project helps it succeed.”
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