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Rick Scott’s Sunpass Scandal In The Spotlight

New reports on the front pages and in local TV news highlight the latest demonstration of how Rick Scott used his position as governor to enrich himself at Floridians’ expense: “a financial tie to the vendor that operates the troubled SunPass toll-collection system.” See for yourself:

Tampa Bay Times: Revealed: Rick Scott’s financial link to botched SunPass contract

  • Gov. Rick Scott has financial ties to the vendor that operates the troubled SunPass toll-collection system.
  • Scott’s financial link to the SunPass vendor is at least the seventh reported example of the wealthy governor’s personal investments in corporations that do business with or are regulated by the state he governs.
  • By late June, records show, a manager of a hedge fund called Highline Capital Management held 7 million shares of stock worth $127 million in Conduent Inc.
  • Scott and his wife Ann have invested at least $5 million in the fund managed by Highline, according to a financial disclosure Scott filed in July because of his U.S. Senate bid.
  • A Conduent subsidiary, Conduent State and Local Solutions, won a $287 million Florida contract in 2015 to manage SunPass.
  • The contract, which has grown to $343 million, was awarded by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) whose secretary is appointed by Scott. Direct oversight of Conduent is the responsibility of the Florida Turnpike Enterprise, an arm of FDOT.
  • Scott attended a Senate campaign fund-raiser in Dallas in May at which his hosts included Darwin Deason, a Texas investor and a major shareholder in Conduent.
  • The Scotts’ investment in Conduent isn’t trivial. Conduent’s sixth-largest shareholder, according to public documents, is Highline Capital Management.
  • Private investments made by the Scotts have raised alarms before about a possible conflict between the governor’s duties and his personal life. Other investments that posed questions involve health care, a high-speed rail system, a natural gas pipeline, prescription drugs, mosquito control, and an oil services company.

WTSP:

“We spent months asking the governor why he wasn’t doing more to hold the troubled vendor, Conduent accountable and we followed the money. We’re now learning that Rick Scott and his wife are investors in a hedge fund that owns a huge piece of Conduent.”

El Nuevo Herald: Este contratista del Sunpass está en problemas, pero Rick Scott sigue invirtiendo

See the front pages:

These reports add to the more than 500 bad news stories about Self-Serving Scott during the first 180 days on the campaign.

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