HOUSTON — A grand jury returned additional charges Thursday against a former Houston Independent School District executive and a contract vendor indicted in an ongoing public corruption investigation, U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery announced.
Former HISD Chief Operating Officer Brian Busby and HISD contract vendor Anthony Hutchinson are now indicted on 33 counts that include the following charges:
- Conspiracy
- Bribery involving programs that received federal funds
- Witness tampering
Hutchison is also charged with wire fraud.
There were 26 counts in the original indictment. It accused the two of corruption in a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme.
The additional seven counts are tax fraud charges — five of them against Busby who is accused of underreporting his income in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. The remaining two counts are against Hutchinson who is accused of overstating the cost of goods from his company, Southwest Wholesale, in 2017 and 2018.
After the new charges were announced, HISD Superintendent Millard House II released the following statement:
“Today’s indictments of a former district official and vendor are a stark reminder of the responsibility this district has to operate with integrity in everything it does. Our students, families, employees, and community deserve nothing less. I hope that with today’s indictments, this district, and the community it serves can finally turn the page on a sad chapter in HISD’s history.
We are appreciative of all the work the FBI has done to hold those accountable who would seek to undermine public trust in the district and will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation. Additionally, we have put stringent measures into place to safeguard the integrity of the district’s procurement and contracting processes moving forward.”
Watch the latest updates on this case in the video below:
What led to the indictment?
This case was opened back in 2018 after it was discovered HISD was overbilled by approximately $7 million, according to the FBI.
Investigators said they later discovered Busby helped Hutchinson get HISD construction and maintenance contracts. In return, Hutchinson overbilled the school district by millions and then shared the profits with Busby who was given cash bribes and hundreds of thousands of dollars in home remodeling, according to the indictment.
Busby also allegedly used some of the funds to pay off five others who have been convicted in this scheme.
"This was blatant corruption and violation of trust of all community members especially students and employees in HISD," said KHOU legal analyst Carmen Roe back in Dec. 2021 when Busy and Hutchinson were arrested. "This is unprecedented."
"The potential victims of this alleged public corruption scheme are thousands of HISD students and all the taxpaying citizens in Houston including the faculty and staff at HISD who expect public officials to operate in a manner that is fair and just," tweeted FBI Houston.
Busby's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, has claimed he is innocent.
"He went from janitor to COO without a sniff of illegality. He hasn't taken a bribe, paid a bribe, he's innocent and a fair jury will see that," DeGeurin said. "
Federal agents seized more than $186,000 cash from Hutchison and Busby's homes back in February 2020 in connection with the investigation, according to court documents. No charges were filed at the time.