FBI conducts Detroit corruption probe

DETROIT, July 1 (UPI) -- Detroit City Council members are being targeted in an FBI corruption investigation, city hall insiders say.

FBI agents are looking at City Councilwoman Monica Conyers and likely others in investigation into a controversial agreement to hire a private firm to handle the city's wastewater treatment, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

Sam Riddle, Conyer's political consultant and former chief of staff, said he had been interviewed by the FBI in early June regarding Houston-based Synagro Technologies' $47 million-per-year contract and the role of various council and city administration members, including his former employer.

Riddle denied he had seen Conyers do anything illegal and saw other motivation in the FBI inquiry.

"I'm firmly convinced that there are elements in the U.S. attorney's office who would love to make a case against anyone whose last name is Conyers, if for no other reason than to embarrass the chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee," Riddle said, referring to U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Detroit Democrat who is married to Monica Conyers.

"Councilwoman Conyers can do that on her own without the assistance of the FBI. She's demonstrated that time and time again," he told the Free Press.