After months of keeping quiet while facing numerous criminal charges, Ferguson criticized the government on Monday, claiming it went too far in seizing about $26,000 from a college fund for his two children.
“In a continuing effort to harass me, the federal government has seized income that has been in my children’s educational account for over 10 years,” Ferguson said in a statement.
Ferguson was responding to a recent FBI seizure, in which federal agents seized nearly $500,000 from several bank accounts tied to Ferguson.
The seizure included $26,347.13 from a bank account in Texas, which is where two of Ferguson’s children attend college, and, where his longtime friend and co-defendant, ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, lives.
Ferguson said that the Texas account has “only been used for securing a solid financial foundation” for his children’s education. He also refuted any claims or suggestions that he is helping to support Kilpatrick.
“Any claim that the above mentioned funds were being used to assist former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in any way is completely false,” Ferguson said in the statement.
Gerald Evelyn, Ferguson’s attorney, would not comment on the nearly $500,000 that was seized from bank accounts allegedly tied to Ferguson, saying only:
“I was surprised by it.”
A posting Monday on a Kilpatrick Facebook page — presumably belonging to the ex-mayor — said: “I have been made aware of media reports, in Detroit, that are asserting a claim that monies seized by the federal government, reportedly belonging to Bobby Ferguson, are in some way related to me.
“Any reports that tie this seizure to me, my family members or my living expenses is completely false and malicious. — Kwame Kilpatrick”
On Nov. 16, records show, federal agents made stops at numerous banks, seizing nearly $500,000 in funds from numerous accounts with alleged ties to Ferguson. According to court documents filed Wednesday, the seizures included:
• $260,000 from PNC Bank on Griswold Street in Detroit.
• $101,720 from four Merrill Lynch accounts.
• $75,000 from First Independence.
• $22,403.51 from an account at Fifth Third Bank.
• $26,347.13 from Amegy Bank in Texas.
Read more from Tresa Baldas in the Detroit Free Press
