That’s how The Phoenix’s Chris Faraone characterized Clean Up BPPA blog’s most recent discoveries regarding the scholarship money trail generated by the union’s controversial newsletter, Pax Centurion.
For those unfamiliar, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association’s newsletter has caused quite a stir with racist, misogynist, and homophobic diatribes against the very citizens BPD officers are sworn to protect. As a result, many big-name sponsors of the newsletter have pulled their ads and money out of the paper, money that supposedly goes towards a union scholarship fund.
According to the union’s own 2010 tax filings available on the Clean Up BPPA Blog, the paper sold $336,000 worth of advertising, but paid 77% of that, $260,000, as a “commission” to a company managed by a Whitman woman whose family is a mini organized crime ring, with their hands in heroin dealing, fake prescriptions, phone scams, possible injury scams, and violence. The union’s cut was $76,000, of which $44,000 was paid out to scholarships. And, by the way, this advertising company was involuntarily dissolved by court order in 2011.
77% or $260,000 is an amazing commission for one year’s work. I can only imagine 3 possible hypotheses to explain such a deal:
- This involuntarily dissolved company did such amazing work for the scholarship that they deserved every penny that they earned.
- The BPD union is so naive that they believe that they needed to yield 77% of their advertising revenues to an outside firm.
or
- This is a very profitable money laundering/kick back scheme and god only knows where the money went.
What other reasonable conclusions can we draw?
More extensive details and supporting links can be found at the above mentioned Clean Up BPPA post and comments and more reporting by Chris Faraone is at the Pheonix Blog.
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Earlier on BMG: The fake Obama photo from the Boston police union’s newspaper
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