New claims further muddy Detroit demolition waters.
Barry Ellentuck, a former consultant for Detroit’s demolition program, has filed a lawsuit accusing several local and state officials of perjury, malicious prosecution and making a concerted effort to prevent him from cooperating with an ongoing federal investigation into the city demolition program.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Oakland County Circuit Court, comes two months after a jury acquitted Ellentuck of a felony charge that he overbilled the Detroit Land Bank Authority of about $6,300.
The nine defendants named include Mayor Mike Duggan’s chief of staff, Alexis Wiley; Detroit Land Bank Authority Executive Director Carrie Lewand-Monroe; Brian Farkas, director of special projects for the Detroit Building Authority, and John Buck, a special agent in Attorney General Bill Scheutte’s office, which filed the charge against Ellentuck in December.
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