FBI Moves into New Palm Beach Office to Fight Public Corruption

The FBI has shifted six agents and one supervisory position from Miami to West Palm Beach to help investigate public corruption cases which is now the office's top priority.^[1]

The West Palm Beach office now has 16 agents focused on white-collar crime, including corruption, cyber crime and health care fraud, said Timothy Delaney, assistant FBI special agent in charge of white-collar crime from Key West to Vero Beach.^[2]

Whereas white-collar crime investigators typically follow the money, the shift in manpower stems from an effort to follow land deals.^[3] Unlike Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Palm Beach still has a lot of farmland and other open tracts, and much of the area's corruption is tied to development-related transactions, Delaney said.^[4]

Since 2006, federal prosecutors have won guilty pleas from two county commissioners, two West Palm Beach city commissioners and a power broker attorney, mostly for acts related to real estate; these are the crimes that prompted the increase in investigative staff.^[5]

The additional staff also allows the bureau to do more public speaking and other community outreach, which in turn encourages people to come forward and report corruption that they otherwise might just see as a normal and intractable part of doing business, Delaney added.^[6]

In pursuing public corruption, the bureau does not limit itself to investigating public officials, but also probes others involved in the crimes, asserted Delaney.^[7] With most classes of crime, such as mortgage or credit card fraud, the FBI can decline to investigate a case.^[8] But federal authorities in South Florida place such a high priority on public corruption that the bureau is required to investigate "every instance," unless the U.S. Attorney's Office determines otherwise, Delaney said.^[9]

Public Corruption encompasses a large number of white collar crimes, the primary goals of which are to receive, offer, or give, preferred treatment or performance in return for monies, gifts or favors. There are several offenses an individual may be charged with which concern bribery, extortion, government fraud, procurement fraud, kickbacks, and misuse of public authority. We will highlight only a few of them here.

18 U.S.C. § 201 covers several forms of bribery of public officials and witnesses and states in part that whoever directly or indirectly, corruptly gives, offers or promises anything of value to any public official or person who has been selected to be a public official, or offers or promises any public official or any person who has been selected to be a public official to give anything of value to any other person or entity, with intent to influence any official act;^[10] or to influence such public official or person who has been selected to be a public official to commit or aid in committing, or collude in, or allow, any fraud, or make opportunity for the commission of any fraud, on the United States;^[11] or to induce such public official or such person who has been selected to be a public official to do or omit to do any act in violation of the lawful duty of such official or person;^[12]

Furthermore §201 defines a public official as: a Member of Congress; a Delegate; or a Resident Commissioner; an officer or employee or person acting for or on behalf of any department, agency or branch of Government of the United States, including the District of Columbia, in any official function; or a juror.^[13]

An official act is defined as any decision or action on any question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy, which may at any time be pending, or which may by law be brought before any public official, in that official's official capacity, or in that official's place of trust or profit.^[14]

18 U.S.C. § 210
Whereunder it states that it is a crime for a person to pay or offer or promise any money or thing of value, to any person, firm, or corporation in consideration of the use or promise to use any influence to procure any appointive office or place under the United States for any person, a violation of § 210 is punishable by fine, or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.^[15]

18 U.S.C. § 211
Under section 211 it is a crime for a person to solicit or receive, either as a political contribution, or for personal emolument, any money or thing of value, in consideration of the promise of support or use of influence in obtaining for any person any appointive office or place under the United States, solicit or receive any thing of value in consideration of aiding a person to obtain employment under the United States eitherby referring his name to an executive department or agency of the United States or by requiring the payment of a fee because such person has secured such employment.^[16]

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^[1] AP Staff, FBI adds staff to West Palm Beach for corruption investigations, Associated Press Newswire, October 21, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services File.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Tony Doris, Expanded FBI staff targeting corruption, Palm Beach Post, October 21, 2007, available at http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/local_news/epaper/2007/10/21/s1c_FBI_1021.html (last visited October 22, 2007).
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Id.
^[10] 18 U.S.C. § 201(b)(1)(A)(2007).
^[11] Id., at § 201(b)(1)(B).
^[12] Id., at § 201(b)(1)(C).
^[13] Id., at § 201(a).
^[14] Id.
^[15] 18 U.S.C. § 210 (2007).
^[16] 18 U.S.C. § 211 (2007).