Questions of conflict mount over Florida governor's finances

[OnDoutside]

Updated October 04, 2018 07:56 PM

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's blind trust might not be so blind.

Shortly after the multimillionaire governor took office in 2011, he established the trust — which is supposed to keep his investments secret from him — to shield him from potential conflicts of interest in his duties as governor. During his nearly eight years in office, Scott was required to file forms disclosing his investments. Now that he is running for U.S. Senate, however, his wife is also required to reveal her own investments — and they seem to mirror those in Scott's trust.

"That doesn't sound like a very blind trust, that's the bottom line," said Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer in George W. Bush's administration who has since left the Republican Party amid criticism of President Donald Trump.

The documents also show that Scott's investment portfolio has at times included holdings in companies with ties to Florida's government, including a fund tied to the state's largest public utility; a credit fund run by the parent company of a high-speed rail line being built in the state; a company that provides drugs to the state's Medicaid patients and a company that donated land to a new state university. Some of the exact amounts aren't known because they are reported in ranges, but the investments have varied in size from tens of thousands of dollars to at least $1 million.

SNIP

Ann Scott's financial disclosure forms, as well as other documents reviewed by The Associated Press, show that she and the blind trust share the same investment manager, Alan Bazaar, a long-time business associate of Rick Scott. The disclosure forms show that Rick and Ann Scott have investments worth tens of millions in the same companies and funds. Ann Scott, during an unrelated investigation, acknowledged she frequently talks to Bazaar.

https://www.macon.com/news/business/article219517345.html

[lark]

1. Voldemort always cheats - it's in his DNA.

Besides his chicanery and theft from Medicare and Medicare patients, Scott's wife owned an big urgent care compny with hundreds of locations statewide. So soon as he stole the governorship, he had his cronies pass a law that all welfare recipients had to be drug tested, and the facility that did that was his wife's' (such a surprise). After 2 years, the state had spent $2 million dollars drug testing applicants and had 2, a total of TWO positives. Even the complicit repugs realized this was outright self dealing and when it became public they had to stop the program immediately. The company folded not long afterwards.

[OnDoutside]

2. There are definitely investigations that could be ordered by Governor Gillum, that's for sure, and

especially that High speed rail project. My brother lives near WPB, and the stories coming out of that definitely warrant further investigation. It's unbelievable these days to have high speed rail with automatic crossings, rather than overpasses.

[peekaloo]

3. Big ol' cluster with the Sun Pass system and the company he hired to oversee it.

Yet it took a Tampa investigative reporter to bring it to his attention.

The OP's story came out a few weeks ago and was quickly buried. Glad to see it getting some well paid attention, again!