Adam Smith, head of the City of Atlanta’s Procurement Department, “has been relieved of his duties effective immediately” according to a statement from Mayor Kasim Reed’s office. No specific reason was given for Smith’s firing, however, FBI agents also confiscated a computer and a phone from Smith’s department alleged to be in connection with a federal bribery conspiracy investigation.
The Procurement Department, which Smith has headed for more than a decade as a Mayor Franklin appointee and Mayor Reed carryover, is responsible for awarding contracts — several of them and their respective processes now under federal scrutiny.
In the last month, two former city vendors, Charles P. Richards Jr. of Tucker and Elvin R. Mitchell Jr., have pleaded guilty to paying more than a million dollars in bribes to get city contracts.
Prosecutors say Mitchell and Richards conspired to pay city officials to award them lucrative city contracts, with more than $1 million paid out between 2010 and 2015.
The investigation is said to be ongoing.
(Photo courtesy of WABE)
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