Allegheny DA speaks out on Pittsburgh city search warrant, how it started and where it’s headed
PITTSBURGH —
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala is investigating former Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration, focusing on potential misuse of no-bid contracts and financial discrepancies.
Zappala said the investigation began a year ago while Gainey was in office, initially looking into the misuse of purchasing cards, or P-cards.
“It was actually an issue about credit cards and the misuse of credit cards, and we had become involved in looking at that,” Zappala said Friday.
The investigation has since expanded, with a city search warrant revealing a probe into whether the Gainey administration exploited the city’s no-bid contracting process by awarding contracts to individuals and organizations that benefited the administration, potentially at the city’s expense.
“The city has definite problems. They have a $50 million shortfall in this year’s budget, and they’re projecting that $50 million over the next five years. So you got $250 million in money that they said it was there. It’s not there,” Zappala said.
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Zappala noted that the case is still developing and charges could be forthcoming.
“There’s some serious matters, and there is a tremendous amount of money that cannot be accounted for. So will there be something? It’s early in the proceeding right now, and all you guys saw was a warrant that was used to generate records,” he said.
The investigation remains focused on no-bid contracts, but Zappala emphasized that the initial concerns about the misuse of P-cards have not been forgotten.
“It’s interesting. The more you get into this, you guys will be fascinated by this,” Zappala said to reporters. “I’m telling you. Stay tuned.”
Zappala added that his forensic team is currently reviewing the first set of 7,000 documents provided by the city, with two additional sets of documents still to be examined.
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