Kwame Kilpatrick (File photo from Movemental Ministries)
Just hours before he spoke at the Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner in Novi on Wednesday, federal prosecutors filed court papers accusing former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of falsely claiming to live in Georgia to “delay or frustrate” attempts to seize money that he owes taxpayers, the Detroit News reports.
Prosecutors say Kilpatrick has requested to move restitution hearings from Detroit to Georgia in an effort to delay matters. They insist he lives in Metro Detroit.
Kilpatrick tells Deadline Detroit his official residence for now is Georgia, where he first moved in January 2021 after President Trump commuted his 28-year sentence to time served. Kilpatrick, who has endorsed Trump for president, insists he's not trying to delay payments, but wants the hearing in Georgia.
Robert Snell reports on the latest filing:
Prosecutors leveled the allegation in an ongoing fight to collect $831,913 that Kilpatrick owes taxpayers as part of the disgraced politician's landmark public corruption conviction. Federal agents and the U.S. Attorney's Office have spent more than a decade trying to hold accountable a corrupt politician portrayed in court filings as an unremorseful ex-con who has lied about his ability to pay restitution while simultaneously pursuing a life of luxury. That includes leasing a $90,000 luxury SUV last year, several months before his wife's consulting firm bought an $807,000 home in Novi.
The U.S. Attorney's Office and Kilpatrick are fighting over more than $6,700 investigators uncovered earlier this year. The money was discovered in late March after prosecutors ordered Michigan Treasury officials to hold onto any money that might belong to Kilpatrick, including unclaimed property or tax refunds.
Kilpatrick said in a statement to Deadline Detroit:
My residence is still Georgia. I’ve been there since January 20, 2021. I plan to move to Michigan early next year. We are also launching our public ministry in Michigan this year. So I’ll be around more.
I still have profoundly important family responsibilities in Georgia with my parents. My wife has never changed her residence from Michigan.
He also denied that he's delaying payments.
I am not delaying restitution payments. I have filed for a hearing so that we can resolve the specific amount owed. I want the hearing in Georgia.
The number has gone from $9.6 million to $164,000 with absolutely no explanation. I have maintained that the number should be ZERO. $164,000 is a lot closer to ZERO than $9.6million.
I will certainly honor what the court says. I simply want to understand how the government continues to manufacture these numbers. And, I want to have this hearing in my state of residence, Georgia.
The prosecutors' court filing says Kilpatrick has denied owing restitution and has asked for a hearing on the matter, preferably in Georgia. It says his last restitution payment was $150 on March 19.
The court documents also alleges that the Georgia residence is listed for sale "and appears to be staged or vacant." It also said his address for court mail is directed to a Northville address and that Kilpatrick has been spotted around town in March and June.
After being released from federal prison after serving nearly eight years of his sentence, he launched a virtual ministry with his wife, Movemental Ministries.
He's also spoken at different churches, and just recently told a local radio station that he's doing political consulting around the country.
See Kilpatrick's speech at the Oakland County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner in Novi
Also read the Detroit News story on his appearance.
