Detroit’s inspector general issued an order Tuesday that bars Bobby Ferguson, a contractor convicted in the corruption scandal with former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, from contracting for  future work with the city. 

Ferguson’s 20-year debarment is the maximum length allowed under city ordinance. Because the order was applied retroactively to the date he was convicted, his debarment will end in March 2033. 

“The City of Detroit Office of Inspector General was established in response to major corruption in City government due in part to City contractors, like Bobby Ferguson, who spent years in federal prison for his role in a wide-ranging corruption scheme involving City of Detroit contracts,” Detroit Inspector General Ellen Ha said in a news release. “We have a clear and direct mandate to hold contractors accountable and prevent those who would violate the trust of the citizens by illegally benefiting from taxpayers’ hard earned dollars. In this debarment, as in all debarments that we have conducted to date, we are fulfilling that mandate.”

According to the inspector general’s report, the office was investigating another matter when it learned that Ferguson had created a business, Ferguson Group V LLC, shortly after his release from prison, and that he “approached a high ranking City of Detroit official about potentially getting a contract with their department.” 

Ferguson could not be immediately reached Tuesday for comment.

Related:

• City cancels $1M in contracts with firm tied to Bobby Ferguson
• Bobby Ferguson cites ‘hardships’ in new bid to end court supervision

The inspector general’s report outlines some of the details about Ferguson’s role in the corruption scandal that plagued the city in the early 2000’s. Ferguson left federal prison in 2021, eight years into a 21-year sentence, after federal Judge Nancy Edmunds granted him a compassionate release during the height of the pandemic and four months after former President Donald Trump commuted Kilpatrick’s sentence. 

Ferguson was convicted of conspiracy, bribery, extortion, and attempted extortion in 2013. The federal government said Ferguson used his relationship with the then mayor to steer bids to his companies and delayed his competitor’s contracts until they agreed to include him as a subcontractor on city-funded infrastructure projects. Contractors conceded to Ferguson’s demands out of fear they would face financial harm — some of whom had contracts canceled after refusing to pay Ferguson’s company a percentage of the contracts they were awarded. 

As a result of the corrupt tactics, Ferguson’s company received $73 million through ill-gotten means. He was sentenced to 252 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $6,284,000 in restitution to the city’s water and sewage department. 

Despite his conviction, Ferguson himself was never formally prevented from doing business with the city until now. 

A BridgeDetroit investigation into demolition contracts last year found that Ferguson and his daughter, Bianca Bush, each created an LLC using the same P.O. Box as a mailing address. Records filed with the state’s licensing and regulatory agency show that the LLCs were created on the same date, three weeks after Ferguson left federal prison in 2021. 

Court documents revealed that Ferguson’s new company, Ferguson Group V LLC, was doing consulting work out of a Wyoming St. office where he operated his family construction company, Ferguson Enterprises, before he was convicted.  

Bush’s company, Staffing Equipment Evolution, was awarded multiple contracts last summer totaling over $1 million. A legislative review of the contract indicated that Bush’s company was also doing business out of the Wyoming St. office where Ferguson was reportedly doing business. 

The city’s top attorney canceled Bush’s contracts after it concluded that Ferguson’s outstanding restitution disqualifies any business he has interest in from holding city contracts. The spokesperson for the mayor’s office previously told BridgeDetroit the decision was based on “credible information” it received that Bush’s company was “affiliated” with Ferguson. 

Ferguson currently owes $2.6 million in restitution to the city’s water and sewage department, down from the $6.2 million originally ordered, according to the inspector general’s report.