The City of College Park is looking recoup $600,000 it paid to two real estate brokers. Those payments led to a criminal investigation.
Former Police Chief Connie Rogers told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes that the investigation is part of the reason why she abruptly resigned.
Rogers said she was pressured into doing several illegal and unethical things, and she said this was one of them.
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The sale of some land in College Park earned two real estate brokers a commission of close to $600,000. The attorney who investigated the deal said they should not have received it.
“I think we have a real crisis of accountability and transparency,” neighbor Randy Godfrey said.
He said the money that the members of the City’s Development Board, BIDA, are now spending is concerning.
“We’re allowing people to make decisions in the half-million dollar range with no authority to do so,” Godfrey said.
The city hired an attorney to do an independent investigation into the payment.
“This investigation establishes that former BIDA Chair Tracy Wyatt engaged in a sustained pattern of misconduct during his 2024 tenure,” the report reads. “On multiple occasions, Wyatt acted outside his lawful authority by unilaterally executing binding brokerage agreements with Keller Williams.”
The report came after College Park police arrested one of the real estate brokers and charged her with felony theft by deception.
However, the district attorney’s office declined to indict her due to insufficient evidence.
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Rogers said she stopped investigating because city leaders pressured her. She also wrote and filed a grievance with the city after she resigned in the middle of the night.
“There are departments that should be auditing both the city and BIDA. We’ve asked for the state to come in,” she wrote in that grievance.
A city spokesperson shared a statement with Fernandes that read in part, “the City is currently reviewing all available administrative and legal remedies to address these matters, evaluate potential recovery options and ensure accountability and public trust moving forward.”
Fernandes also spoke with Wyatt, who is still on the BIDA board, and he said that he did not do anything illegal.
She also reached out to Keller Williams and was told the brokers involved worked independently.
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Read More: City of College Park looking to get back $600K from real estate brokers
