Providence Corruption

Have you been approached for a bribe or kickback while doing business with the city of Providence? If so, call the U.S. Attorney's Whistle Blower's Hotline at (401) 528-5224 or the FBI's Providence office at (401) 272-8310.

The recent arrest of two people in the city's tax division has led to phones ringing off the hook at the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office as more people come forward with allegations. According to informed sources, new arrests are expected in the future.

Right now, the $64,000 question in this case is how broad-based and systematic were the alleged efforts to shake down people doing business with the city. If there are only two arrests, there will be little fall-out for the city's famed Providence Renaissance. However, if the arrests continue and more people are found to be involved, it raises questions about whether the "old Providence" has returned.

For Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, the stakes are quite high. With a 77 percent approval rating in the city based on a March, 1999 Brown University survey (see poll results), the mayor has had phenomenal popularity. But since that survey appeared, there has been a torrent of bad events and unfavorable news coverage about the mayor. He was accused in a front-page Providence Journal expose by Chris Chivers of taking advantage of special pension rules to pad his own personal pension. With the city's overall pension system underfunded to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, the timing of this story couldn't have been worse.

Now the spector of additional arrests reawakens the memories of Providence's Dark Ages in the early 1980s when dozens of city officials were charged and convicted of corruption.

No matter what the legal outcome of the case, the mayor has taken a big political hit. It doesn't look like the mayor is going to be running for John Chafee's U.S. Senate seat in 2000.

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For an update on the investigation as well as news stories and transcripts of the legal filings in this case, visit the Providence Journal Special Report on corruption in Providence.