Episode 164: Scott Curtis – Mayor of Allentown, Campaign Contribution Bribery

In this episode, retired agent Scott Curtis reviews his public corruption investigation that resulted in the conviction of Allentown, Pennsylvania Mayor Ed Pawlowski, as well as a dozen other public officials and business executives for campaign contribution bribery, extortion, and other corruption-related offenses.

Scott Curtis served in the FBI for 22 years. He spent much of his career assigned to the New York Field Office working on an Organized Crime (OC) Squad investigating Colombo LCN Family, before transferring to the Allentown Resident Agency (RA) out of the Philadelphia Division.

He notes that the similarities in the investigation of organized crime members and corrupt public officials were remarkable, and his experience working OC in New York significantly contributed to the success of the Allentown investigation.

A highlight of his time in New York was being the lead Agent in the largest single-day takedown of organized crime members in U.S. history in January 2011, where over 120 individuals were indicted and arrested based on hundreds of consensual recordings captured over 20 months by multiple cooperating witnesses.

Scott Curtis is currently employed as an Associate Director of Global Investigations & Compliance for Navigant Consulting where he is responsible for conducting investigations of fraud, corruption, and other misconduct.

Special Agent (Retired)

Scott Curtis

May 12, 1996 – June 9, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Who the hell knows who’s wearing a wire, who’s tapped, who’s not. We just got to be really careful when we talk about this stuff.” — Mayor Pawlowski captured on a wiretap.

The following are links to news articles about the campaign contribution bribery investigation of Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski:

Agent testifies about day he confonted Pawlowski with FBI’s allegations

Agent testifies – Cont.

Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski found guilty on 47 of 54 felony counts

Allentown mayor convicted of 47 corruption charges

Pawlowski Prison Sentencing – 15 Years, No Remorse

Pawlowski Prison Sentencing – Cont.

Former Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski stunned by 15-year prison sentence that lawyer calls “cruel

Scandal unfolded in public over 3 years

The rise and fall of Allentown’s Mayor (TIMELINE)

Scott Curtis, FBI agent behind Allentown investigation, retires

Surveillance Photo of Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chart showing all of the players caught up in the campaign contribution bribery investigation of Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, municipal employees, campaign workers and city vendors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The FBI’s Philadelphia Division continues to address public corruption in Pennsylvania. Recently, the FBI conducted successful investigations that took down a congressman, district attorney, state treasurer and several mayors for “pay to play” offenses. (Credit – Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Inquirer)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerri Williams

View posts by Jerri Williams
Jerri Williams, a retired FBI agent, author and podcaster, jokes that she writes about the FBI to relive her glory days. After 26 years with the Bureau specializing in major economic fraud and corruption investigations, she calls on her professional encounters with scams and schemers to write police procedurals inspired by true crime FBI cases in her Philadelphia FBI Corruption Squad crime fiction series featuring flawed female FBI agent Kari Wheeler. Jerri’s FBI for Armchair Detectives nonfiction series enables readers to discover who the FBI is and what the FBI does by debunking misconceptions about the FBI in books, TV, and movies. Her books are available as ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks wherever books are sold. She’s also the host of FBI Retired Case File Review, a true crime podcast with more than 300 episodes available on all popular podcast apps and YouTube.

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