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one on one continued from page 33 We’ve got IT support. You name it, we’ve got free assistance from the community and that saves us money. CN: Wayne County and Detroit, obviously as you know, has been plagued by a lot of political corruption. Businesses owners don’t know if they should or shouldn’t invest, or they haven’t yet because of the corruption dealing with government. What do you do about that? AA: I always go back to that picture right there [pointing to an article framed on the wall] — that was an actual page in the Youngstown Newspaper. It was calling the Mahoning Valley corruption score guys, and I was the head of the FBI in Youngstown, Ohio. We convicted 72 people of public corruption in a three-year period. What it exposed was how business was down there. People got used to, “Hey this is the way business is done.” I think we changed the culture of how business was done in Youngstown, Ohio. I think what you’ve seen in Detroit and Wayne County is exposing how business was done here. CN: I think that’s been the consensus by a lot of people — this is just how it’s been done. AA: The pay-to-play environment, it’s not right. People have gone to jail for it. What I tell the businesses is that you can’t do that anymore. If somebody tries to get you to do business that way, you need to say no and you need to call the authorities and say this is what’s going on. But I think it’s a culture shift and I think people realized, hey you could go to jail if you do this. If people are taking bribes to get contracts or whatever, that’s wrong. It’s illegal, it’s unacceptable and that’s not the way business should be done. CN: You have since left the FBI but do you have faith that the culture of corruption in Detroit and Wayne County will stop? AA: I hope so. You’ve seen a shift in a way business is done, I think, in Detroit. Being on the outside and kind of looking at things, I think it’s a different culture now, but you got to just keep your eye on the ball. It could shift back in a minute if people aren’t on their toes. But a lot of these businesses are saying, we’re not going to do that. It’s funny, after I left the FBI and after all the indictments and convictions, now people are coming telling me stories, “Well, you know, 10 years ago ….” I would ask, “But who did you tell?” Someone else said, “Five years ago I was caught in this and I didn’t get the contract.” I replied, “Well, who did you tell? Did you ever go to the FBI?” They would no doubt say, “Well, no, I didn’t want to get involved.” The reality is that people have to get involved if they want to stop that corruption. CN: Do you think people have a fear of going to the FBI? AA: I think people fear the FBI. We talk about this all the time here [at the DCC]. When we gave our badges in we noticed, wow people talk to us now. It’s amazing the cases that people bring to us. People come here all the time, knock on the door and say, “I would like to talk to you about the school district. I’d like to talk to you about a business venture I saw.” And they bring boxes of records in. All of a sudden we’re not FBI or state police. We’re not cops anymore. CN: But you can be a conduit, right? You can help obviously with the role that you’re playing today? AA: Yeah, I think people look at us really as a conduit. They look at us and say, “Well they’re not cops. I don’t really want to go to the FBI. I don’t want to get involved. Let me give it to these guys.” And a lot of times, it’s like the community is speaking French and law enforcement speaks Russian and they don’t understand. We’re able to interpret for both. CN: Is there anything you want to get across to our audience, what you do and the role you play? AA: Go back to your question about investing. I think you got to keep investing in Detroit. I think it’s on the right track. I think you’re going to see changes in the city. Like I said, hopefully we can be part of that change. If we can help law enforcement better use their resources and better target the criminal activity, in the end it’s going to help to drive crime down and make the areas around their stores and facilities much safer. How many Chaldean businessman have lost their lives in business? CN: Dozens. Yes, we see the violent crimes all the time. AA: When I talk to my friends in the Chaldean community, that’s one of the complaints we hear, “We’ve taken our lives in our hands going into this business.” I believe it is getting better. The Detroit Crime Commission is here to help. Learn more about the Detroit Crime Commission at DetroitCrimeCommission.com. SOUTHFIELD SOUTHFIELD 28100 Telegraph Road Southfield, MI 48034 (800) 725-0697 Sales Sales Finance Manager Sales Sales Hours Monday 9am-9pm Tue/Wed 9am-7pm Thursday 9am-9pm Friday 9am-6pm Saturday 10am-3pm WELCOME BACK TONY ANTWON! Sales 34 CHALDEAN NEWS MAY 2014
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