FBI probing corruption claims involving Chandler councilmember, former police chief says
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The FBI was investigating "public corruption" allegations involving Chandler City Councilmember Jane Poston and the former president of Chandler's police union, according to an internal city email from former Chandler Police Chief Sean Duggan.
Duggan sent the email to Chandler City Manager Josh Wright on Nov. 8. It refers to a "confidential briefing" the two had that day at which Duggan said he shared that the FBI was investigating Chandler Law Enforcement Association president Officer Michael Collins and Poston.
The Arizona Republic obtained the email after a public records request to the city.
"Information was uncovered indicating Collins and Poston may have committed violations of federal law and as such, an active public corruption criminal investigation is underway," the email stated.
Page 1 of Email - FBI investigate Chandler police union president and council member
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Duggan did not provide any other details in the email or respond to The Republic's request for an interview.
Matt Burdick, a city spokesperson, said the city was not aware of an FBI investigation and that Duggan's email was the only city correspondence about a federal corruption probe since Oct. 30.
The FBI told The Republic it does "not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation."
Poston dismissed the accusation in an emailed statement, saying she only recently learned of Duggan's claim. She declined an interview, saying she was still recovering from a recent surgery for breast cancer.
"No one from any investigative agency has contacted me. Based on the complete lack of merit, I decided to treat this as the unfounded rumor I believe it to be," Poston wrote in her statement.
Poston and her husband own a marketing company called J2 Media LLC. She was elected to the City Council in August 2022.
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Collins, the former union president, did not respond to The Republic's voicemail message seeking comment about the possible FBI investigation or the union's finances. He only recently stepped down as leader of the Chandler Law Enforcement Association.
The police union is registered as a nonprofit. As such, it must file an Internal Revenue Service form annually that provides the public with financial information about a nonprofit organization. Its 2023 Form 990 isn't available yet, but the union's reports from 2020, 2021 and 2022 detail its spending and a massive loss of funds.
During those three years, the union spent more than $183,000 on "advertising and promotion," which equates to roughly half of all the cash the union had by the end of 2022. Unions don't usually need to advertise since their membership base largely is just people who work in a particular department.
The union's fund balance dropped by about one-third during 2021 and 2022. The union's funds dropped from about $515,000 at the start of 2021 to $349,000 by the end of 2022.
The advertising purchases appear to be directly tied to that loss.
The union spent $18,750 on advertising and promotion in 2020 and saw a roughly a $30,000 increase in total assets.
The same costs skyrocketed to about $78,000 in 2021. The union's fund balance at the end of the year was about $81,000 below what it had been that January.
In 2022, the union spent its highest annual amount on advertising and promotion at nearly $87,000. It ended the year with $85,000 less than it had started with in 2022.
Poston was endorsed by the police union during her City Council election. The IRS forms do not show who or what company the union was paying for marketing. The Form 990 only requires a nonprofit to detail only what general category of services its money went towards.
Reporter Sam Kmack covers Tempe, Scottsdale and Chandler. Follow him on X @KmackSam or reach him at sam.kmack@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: FBI investigating Chandler council member, police union, ex-chief says
