Generally, when someone talks about political corruption, the first city to come to mind is Chicago. The legend lives on, it seems. These days, though, worse things are happening elsewhere, and mayors and their contractor co-conspirators are bilking the people of cities that are not Chicago and states that are not Illinois.
One such contractor who is looking at prison time for convictions handed down earlier this year and is gearing up for another trial on separate charges received notice recently that his wife is suing him for child support. They are still married.
The FBI has seized what assets they can find, and the federal government continues its search for money that investigators believe is hidden offshore. That leaves the man’s family in a tough spot; he says, too, that he is out of money and needs a public defender for his upcoming trial.
One legal commentator suggested the man’s wife filed the child support petition in anticipation of her husband declaring bankruptcy. The government’s liens would have priority; any money the contractor has would go to pay the IRS first. Bankruptcy cannot wipe out child support obligations, though, so if the court issues a child support order, her child’s needs would be second in line.
According to the petition, the husband “is of sufficient ability to provide support for the child” but has not provided support for a while. At the moment, the 15-year-old is receiving public assistance, a fact that could move the child support claim above the government’s, according to one attorney. It would be a simple matter of robbing Peter to pay Paul, apparently, if the government were to seize assets for itself and then pay minimal support through state programs for the child.
Source: The Detroit News, “Bobby Ferguson sued by wife over child support,” Robert Snell, May 2, 2013
