Former Cleveland demolition bureau chief charged with bribery

The former Cleveland demolition bureau chief was charged with soliciting and taking thousands of dollars in bribes from contractors in exchange for preferential treatment when obtaining city jobs Aug. 24, a report by Cleveland.com says. Rufus Taylor is charged with bribery in a federally funded program and extortion.

The charges against Taylor were filed through a criminal information, which usually means a plea agreement is forthcoming. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Taylor gave preferential treatment to two unnamed contractors in exchange for information about upcoming demolition and abatement projects. He and the contractors agreed to bribes in exchange for the information, with Taylor receiving cash over several years.

Taylor retired in January after working at the city for 30 years, the report says. The charges were a product of investigations by the FBI and other agencies.

As the demolition chief, Taylor oversaw assigning the board up of vacant and abandoned properties in Cleveland to contractors and assigning emergency demolition jobs. He was also responsible for inspecting properties, which had to happen before a contractor was paid.

In one instance, Taylor and a party identified as Contractor 1in legal documents met in November 2013 to discuss a demolition job. The two parties agreed that Taylor would receive $8,000 in cash in return for him putting the contractor on the bid list, the report says. Contractor 1 won the bid on Nov. 12, 2013, and the contractor gave Taylor $3,000 in cash in December 2013 and $5,000 between November 2013 and November 2015.

Taylor also told Contractor 1 about an emergency demolition job in October 2015 and demanded $12,000 in exchange for notifying the contractor about the job. Contractor 1 won the abatement work but never paid Taylor.

With a second contractor, Taylor provided bid numbers for a demolition job in August 2015, the report says. That contractor submitted the lowest bid, won the job and later paid Taylor $5,000. Taylor also provided the same contractor with the names of companies bidding on a demolition job May 7, 2016. Three days later, on the last day the city accepted bids, Taylor called the contractor and told them the then-lowest bid.

According to the report, it is unclear whether the contractor won the job, but they gave Taylor $500 about two weeks later. Two months later, Taylor told the contractor he needed more money and the contractor gave him $300.

Court records show Taylor has had financial trouble for years and that liens have been filed against him, the report says. He filed for bankruptcy in 2012, listing more than $75,000 in unsecured debt. A bankruptcy judge discharged his debts in December, the report says.

The charges against Taylor came after federal agents searched a different city department in December, the report says. Agents seized files from the Division of Engineering and Construction related to a company owned by Khalil Ewais, an engineer and second chief for construction inspection. The report says no charged have been made from that search.