Tom Simon

For what?

We're getting there.

We're getting there.

We just did an episode before, sponsored by our friends at Home Title Lock, discussing different kind of real estate fraud scams involving fraudulent titles.

This one could have actually probably been in that.

The city had title to 95 plots of land that had been foreclosed upon because they didn't pay property taxes, right?

Most of them were probably vacant plots of land.

Mayor Rick had the authority to turn those properties over to a real estate developer of his choice in order to do whatever he could.

It was his job to kind of maximize the value of those foreclosed properties.

Mayor Rick had control of that.

And so what he does is he gives all those plots of land to a real estate developer named Shadi Awad.

I think it's spelled like shady.

We'll call him Shady Awad.

Shady Awad, perfectly legal under city rules to give this stuff, give it to him.

The problem is that Shady was also providing Mayor Rick with bribes at the same time in the form of home renovations, cash, money for gambling, and appliances.

He had a smart refrigerator.

Mayor Rick did.

Yeah, yeah.

And he also was given a gift of a stove, I guess that's an appliance, and a cigar humidor.

What's a cigar humidor?