Macomb Official Indicted On 18 Counts For 'Pay-To-Play' Corruption

MACOMB TWP. (WWJ) - Another official in Macomb County is facing federal charges over "pay-to-play" allegations.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says 58-year old Dino Bucci of Macomb Township was indicted by a grand jury on 18 counts of bribery, conspiracy, embezzlement, extortion, mail fraud and money laundering.

Bucci is a Macomb Township trustee and the former operations manager at the Macomb County Department of Public Works.

[View a copy of the indictment]

The feds allege Bucci took tens of thousands of dollars in cash, personal checks (including for the purchase of tickets to political fundraising events) and gift cards (including to Costco and the Mall at Partridge Creek) in exchange for contracts with the township and county. In one case, investigators say Bucci collected $66,000 in kickbacks from a contract to pave the parking lot at the township hall.

In another case, the indictment claims Bucci shut down all work by an engeering firm in Macomb Towship after an employee refused to pay him a $10,000 bribe.

Bucci is also accused of ordering county employees do personal work for him including plowing his and his mother's driveways, doing yard work at Bucci's home, driving Bucci's child to school each day, and helping an associate's girlfriend move.

The indictment alleges that Bucci threatened to send employees home without pay, take away their use of county vehicles, and/or send employees to undesirable work stations working 24-hour shifts if they refused to perform these personal tasks.

If convicted, Bucci faces possible jail time, fines and the forfeiture of property derived from proceeds traceable to these alleged offenses.