COLUMBUS, Ohio – A city agency will investigate the conduct of one of its staff members to see if any rules were broken in efforts to help a Chinese businesswoman also under FBI scrutiny for her role in the sale of Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman’s former home.
According to a statement from Coleman’s office released Wednesday, the Department of Development will conduct an investigation into “a City employee’s use of City resources for activities outside of his job duties” to help Dr. Jianhua Li, a Beijing businesswoman.
“We have discovered through emails that a City employee was assisting Dr. Li beyond the scope of his job duties,” Coleman said in the statement. “I did not ask any City employee to help Dr. Li beyond that which we routinely do to support economic development in Columbus. We will determine the full extent to which this employee acted beyond the scope of his employment on behalf of Dr. Li, and why.”
Federal investigators reportedly issued subpoenas and asked city staff for records related to the $520,000 purchase of Coleman’s former house at 1362 E. Haddon Rd. in late 2010, according to several sources, including one of the city staff members.
According to a report in the Columbus Dispatch, Franklin County auditor records show that the house was purchased for nearly double the county’s estimated value and far more than any other home on the street.
The newspaper reported Wednesday morning that emails and documents it obtained show that Bob Hsieh, the Asia expert in the Development Department, went outside the bounds of his job duties to help Li during his work hours after she bought Coleman’s former house.
“I didn’t know anything about this,” the mayor said during a sit-down interview with The Dispatch on Tuesday. “I never requested that the city provide any assistance to Dr. Li that it wouldn’t routinely offer any company considering relocating to Columbus.”
The city’s investigation will follow the procedures outlined in the city’s collective bargaining agreement and Coleman’s office says the FBI has told city officials that the department’s investigation will not interfere with the federal inquiry.