Detroit Mayor Under Investigation For Ties To Non-Profit

mike duggan
Photo credit (photo: WWJ/Roberta Jasina)

DETROIT (WWJ) -- Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is under scrutiny from the Office of Inspector General after a report from The Detroit Free Press documenting a local charity receiving special treatment.

The Office of Inspector General announced Monday that it has launched an investigation regarding Duggan's interactions with the Make Your Date non-profit -- a medical organization supporting prenatal health in area women -- whose president, Dr. Sonia Hassan, has close ties to Duggan.

The OIG says it is "duty-bound, pursuant to the Charter of the City of Detroit, to initiate and to pursue the investigation."

"In accordance with the Charter, the investigation will focus on whether the Mayor and/or any City officials potentially abused their authority by providing preferential treatment to the Make Your Date Non-Profit," a statement from the OIG said.

The probe is a result of a Free Press report that alleges Hassan, also a professor at Wayne State University, received more than $300,000 in city money, as well as fundraising help at the direction of the mayor.

Duggan denied any wrongdoing after video was released last year showing him going into Hassan's home.

"A litigant, angry to be losing a case to the Detroit Law Department, apparently decided to retaliate by hiring private investigators to follow the Mayor without his knowledge for several months," Duggan said in a November statement. "And in the end, their surveillance failed to uncover a single misdeed in the management of the city."

In separate statements on Monday, both Wayne State and the city say they welcome the investigation.

Here is the full statement from Duggan's Chief of Staff, Alexis Wiley:

"We welcome an independent review by the Office of the Inspector General of the City’s role in Wayne State’s Make Your Date program, a program that’s helped thousands of high risk Detroit women deliver healthy babies.
An unbiased, thorough review of the facts will demonstrate that the central claims and unsubstantiated suggestions made by the Detroit Free Press are completely false. The City’s efforts entirely supported Wayne State University and its Make Your Date program. No city funds were ever provided to a Make Your Date non-profit and no private money was ever raised for it. Every dollar of city funds was provided to and managed by Wayne State University. Dr. Hassan, a world renowned expert in reducing preterm birth, volunteered her time for this program and never any received any compensation.
We expect the OIG’s review will conclude that the city’s role in supporting this important program to help more Detroit women have healthy babies was handled transparently, ethically and appropriately."

The OIG said the investigation was initially launched on Friday and says the results of the probe will be shared with the Mayor's Office, Detroit City Council and the public.