Armando Perez, the police chief of Bridgeport, Connecticut, has stepped down from his position after being arrested on federal fraud charges, Complex reports.
The city Mayor, Joe Ganim, publicly announced the news in via social media Thursday afternoon. His video confirmed Assistant Chief Rebbec Garcia will step in as acting police chief until further notice.
Former police chief Perez Bridgeport’s personnel director, David Dunn, was arrested Thursday for allegedly “rigging” a 2018 police chief examination that ensured Perez would be hired as the chief.
Legal documents obtained by Patch show Dunn is accused of getting confidential exam questions and emailing them to Perez in advance. Dunn is also accused of having a consultant tailor the scoring criteria and enlisted two of his subordinates to write Perez’s exam essays.
Due to their little scheme, Perez was able to beat out 15 other candidates for the position and received a five-year contract that had a “payout of more than $300,000 to Perez for accrued leave.”
Allegedly, Chief Perez and Personnel Director Dunn schemed to rig the purportedly impartial and objective search for a permanent police chief to ensure the position was awarded to Perez, and then repeatedly lied to federal agents in order to conceal their conduct,” Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement.
“Bridgeport’s citizens and police officers deserve leaders with integrity who are committed to enforcing, not breaking, the law, and we thank the FBI for their partnership in investigating and uncovering the scheme alleged.”
Perez and Dunn have each been charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Perez has picked up two additional counts of making false statements to federal investigators, and Dunn is charged with one count.
Both were granted a $150,000 bond and have an upcoming September 24 hearing.
This morning we learned that Acting Civil Service Director and police chief willfully turned themselves into the U.S. Attorney’s office.
We are in the process of reviewing these charges. Effective today, Rebeca Garcia will lead our #Bridgeport Police Department as Acting Chief. pic.twitter.com/O04dcy9JuW
— joeganim (@joeganim) September 10, 2020
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