An example of - alleged - corruption.
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A former employee of Houston’s Public Works Department has been arrested for allegedly taking bribes from vendors and funneling city dollars to herself through a shell company.
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Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced at a Friday news conference that her office has filed 14 charges against seven defendants, including Lee, her brother and the vendors involved.
Lee, who faces four charges of bribery and abuse of official capacity, has been arrested. An attorney has not yet been assigned to her case.
The others will turn themselves in or be arrested in the coming days, Ogg said.
According to the charging document, Lee allegedly steered city contracts to companies that would then hire her own company, KB3 Construction, for consulting services, “amount (ing) to little more than kick-backs.” In return, she promised to help these vendors obtain larger and better contracts and get paid faster.
From January 2023 through November 2023, Lee allegedly pocketed $322,000 from four different vendors through this scheme, the charging document said.
Investigators also accused Lee of funneling over $400,000 of city dollars directly to LCI, a company owned by her brother Andrew Thomas, while never disclosing her relationship with Thomas. She then immediately transferred at least $380,000 of the payments to her own company, according to the charging document.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Levine said a lot of the money has been spent. Ogg added some of the money went toward the purchase of new cars.
“All of the normal checks and balances were averted, and that is a recipe for corruption,” Ogg said. “The damage of public corruption in the big picture is the public’s loss of trust in government to be responsible stewards of their money.”
Mayor John Whitmire, who co-hosted the news conference with Ogg, has long promised to root out corruption and conflicts of interest at City Hall. During his mayoral campaign last year, he cited this specific case as an example of ethical concerns during former Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration.
Facing steep financial challenges ahead, the mayor said he does not intend to ask voters for more tax revenues this year specifically because he is not yet confident he has eliminated all inefficiencies and corrupt practices from the city’s operations.
“I’ve already sent word to all of my department heads, ‘We’re watching. Don’t even think about cutting corners or playing favorites,’” the mayor said, adding he plans to scrutinize the Houston Housing Authority, the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Houston Airport System next.
“I assured the public we wouldn’t ask for additional revenue until we can guarantee that we (have) removed conflicts of interest and public corruption,” Whitmire added.
Randy Macchi, Public Works’ chief operating officer, said the department is in the process of evaluating how to improve its contracting process to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Since emergency purchases are typically subject to less scrutiny than regular contracts, one solution, Macchi said, is to invest more in routine waterline repairs to reduce the need for emergency repairs.
Additionally, in this instance, Lee was the only person responsible for verifying vendor information. Macchi said he would ensure that, in the future, there will always be more than one employee in charge of the process for better checks and balances.
Three Public Works employees have been terminated as a direct result of this case, Macchi said.
The investigation is still ongoing, with the Texas Rangers conducting an independent review. Officials encouraged any witnesses to reach out to the Texas Rangers at 281-517-1400 with information.
“There are certainly more witnesses,” Levine said. “The only way we stop public corruption is with the public coming forward.”
