Blackwell's Travel Request Denied

DETROIT - A judge Monday denied a travel request from Detroit businessman Art Blackwell.

Blackwell, 56, of Detroit, is facing embezzlement charges in a case where he is accused of taking an illegal salary while working as a financial manager for the city of Highland Park.

Blackwell was appointed by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm in April 2005 to bring the city out of financial trouble. He promised to work for the cash-strapped city as a financial manager for $1 a year.

But according to papers filed in a taxpayer lawsuit, in 2008 Blackwell's contract was renegotiated for an $11,000-per-month salary.

The prosecutor's office's said the Michigan Department of Treasury conducted an audit and concluded that Blackwell was fully compensated for his services when he received $110,000 from April 2008 until his termination from the position in April 2009.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Blackwell also paid himself $264,000 more in checks written from city funding. At the time, Highland Park was facing a $16 million deficit.

Worthy said when Blackwell left office it was requested that he repay the city the $264,000, something he has not yet done.

"We would all like a job where we get paid our regular salaries and then we write checks to ourselves checks equal to our salary. So in essence we doubled our money for the same amount of work," Worthy said. "This has nothing to do with how well or badly the job was done, it has to do with alleged embezzlement of money and resources from a very, very financially strapped city."

Blackwell was in court Monday to hear Judge Roger LaRose’s decision on his request to travel to Canada to negotiate with the Royal Bank of Canada on a foreclosure of a condominium he said he has owned for the last five years.

Blackwell said he’s had the property on the market for more than a year and has been unable to sell it.

The judge told Blackwell he could hire an attorney to go to Canada for him.

In court, the defense and prosecution deliberated over the quality of the embezzlement case and evidence against Blackwell.

Blackwell’s attorneys argued that the case was political and that the state knew every financial move Blackwell was making because he was under the supervision of the governor herself.

His attorneys said there is no evidence his financial situation was a result of embezzlement.

But the prosecution said they raided Blackwell’s Canadian home and found evidence that Blackwell has a gambling problem, including $1 million in debt, and that he’s keeping a safe deposit box in Canada.

Blackwell denied keeping a safe deposit box in Canada.

“Raiding my house and saying they’ve discovered some gambling problems is ridiculous,” Blackwell said. "If you ask for my income tax return, you would have had it. What they don't tell you is, OK, you've got a million in gambling loses but they don't tell you that you've got $11 million in income."

Blackwell has said he will call on the governor as a witness in the case. The governor has not publicly spoken about the situation.

Blackwell said he and his attorneys will be at a preliminary hearing Nov. 17 to ask that the case be dismissed.

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