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Are you looking for the latest on Detroit’s former mayor?
Whose testimony had Kwame sweating through his three piece suit?
The women who knew Kwame Kilpatrick when he was in diapers, testified against him yesterday. Emma Bell, Kilpatrick’s political fundraiser, testified by detailing how she gave kickbacks.to the former mayor. In this emotional testimony, she shared how Kilpatrick received over $200,000 in kickbacks.
According to the Detroit News, Emma Bell was quoted saying,
“It’s not easy for me to even be here, sir.” and “He is a great man.”
Emma Bell had viewed Kilpatrick like a son. This testimony was over a 3 hour long affair. In the end, Bell left in tears and Kilpatrick’s three-piece suit was stained with sweat.
Emma Bell received her first commission check for 100,000 dollars. Bell says that was the start of the kickbacks. She would give Kilpatrick cash that she stored in her bra. Out of her first commission, she gave him up to $50,000 in separate payments.
When Kilpatrick handed her the commission check, Bell testified that, “He said I was welcome and ‘see you later’ and he (asked) would I have something for him”. Bell says that he implied money. How much kickback was never specified between the two, but between 2003 and 2008, Kilpatrick had received over $300,000 of the $900,000 Bell had been paid.
The reason for the cash was simple. It kept the IRS in the dark. Bell did not claim that $300,000 on her income taxes. The defense exploited Bell’s previous tax problems and her gambling problems. Facing 2 counts of tax evasion and a prison term, Bell pled guilty.
