Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman
ONUMBA.COM, USA – If you ask Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, he would tell you straight up he is not under investigation for anything.
And he is right.
But even so, Coleman knows quite well that federal investigators are fiercely looking into whether there is any connection between the sale of his pricey pad to a Chinese business woman and the fact that the same woman was also exploring the possibility of establishing her business in the city.
“This is simply untrue,” said Coleman, in a statement concerning ongoing investigation involving the sale of his home. “I have cooperated with federal authorities in their investigation into the buyer of our property, but I have no reason to believe that I am under investigation.”
Presently, it doesn’t appear as though the mayor is under investigation but federal officials are rummaging through a mudslide of documents obtained from city employees who were allegedly directed by Coleman to assist the Chinese business woman Jianhua Li set up a business in Columbus.
It is not exactly clear what stoked this investigation in the first place, which comes just months before the mayor’s planned departure from office, but it might not be too far from the fact that Li who was being helped to establish a business in Columbus was also the same woman who purchased Coleman’s former house located at 1362 Haddon Rd.’ in the Berwick neighborhood.
Coleman said he appreciates the federal officials doing their job in the investigation but maintains there’s no wrong doing on his part, saying, “It was an arms-length and fair transaction with everything above ground.”
Apparently, the central question revolves around the worth of the home compared to the asking price and then the price ultimately paid by the business woman.
A bevy of city workers were subpoenaed and questioned about the purchase of the home by Li for $520,000 in 2010 when it was appraised for $404,000.
Originally listed for $750,000, way above the appraisal price, which according to Coleman was because of a smorgasbord of improvements made to the house, the pad sold eventually for substantially less than the asking price.
It is not exactly clear what the federal investigation is aiming at, or what their concerns are, but Coleman has not been charged with any crime.
Worth mentioning in all of this though is that Coleman, as part of his economic development, job growth and neighborhood revitalization efforts, is continuously looking to lure new businesses to Columbus in exchange for all kinds of tax succor mixed with doses of good old mid-western hospitality.
Again, it is not clear what the problem is or why this is happening. But it appears federal investigators are looking to see if the purchase of the mayor’s home was somehow linked in one way or another to negotiations aimed at bringing the Chinese would-be investor to the city.
That’s that. But then there’s also the matter of the investigation looking to see why the Coleman administration tried to help Li obtain visa through the city’s sister relationship with a Chinese city, Hefei.
As for that, Coleman defended his administration by making one thing abundantly clear, saying that the fact that one city worker by the name Bob Hsieh tried to help Li obtain a visa to visit Columbus is not unusual, explaining, for one thing, that it happened after the sale of his home and for another, that it is a process routinely followed when the administration is wooing businesses to relocate to Columbus.
“There was no connection between the sale of our home and any later action by city staff,” said Coleman. “Months after the sale of our home, the development department prepared letters of invitations for my signature to help the buyer obtain visas in order to explore business opportunities here. I did not request the department to prepare these letters.”
Noting that Li was not treated any differently than other potential business investors looking to expand or establish their business in the city, Coleman maintained he has not done anything wrong.
Frankie Coleman, the mayor’s former wife, was also questioned by federal investigators about the sale of their Berwick home.
