Prosecutors seek funds from PayPal, Plumfund, to satisfy Kwame Kilpatrick debt

Federal prosecutors are attempting to seize funds held by PayPal and the fundraising website Plumfund as they try to collect close to $200,000 that former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick still owes the Internal Revenue Service, according to court records filed Friday.

Prosecutors filed writs for continuing garnishment against Kilpatrick, his wife, Laticia, who he married last year after his release from federal prison, and the two companies.

The court filings list Kilpatrick at a Georgia address. But Plumfund was reportedly used to help raise money for the Kilpatricks to purchase a home in Florida, according to Fox2 Detroit.

According to the court filings, Kilpatrick's restitution, which was once pegged at close to $4.8 million and was later reduced to $1.5 million, has been largely satisfied. But the former mayor still owes just over $193,000, and prosecutors are working to collect it.

Harold Gurewitz, an attorney representing Kilpatrick, said he has not had an opportunity to review the court filings and declined to comment.

Messages left with PayPal and Plumfund were not immediately returned.

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Kilpatrick, the son of former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, took office as Detroit mayor in 2002, after serving in the state House. His fall began in 2008 when the Free Press published text messages that showed he lied during a police whistleblower trial when he testified that he did not have an affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, and gave misleading testimony about the firing of a deputy police chief.

Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison following his 2013 conviction on a slew of public corruption crimes, including racketeering, bribery, fraud and extortion. He lost his appeals but found his second chance when former President Donald Trump commuted his sentence 20 years early.

Kilpatrick, 52, was previously married to Carlita Kilpatrick. The two divorced in 2018.

Some of what Kilpatrick owed was to be paid jointly by his friend and former city contractor Bobby Ferguson. Assets seized from Ferguson would reduce the total owed by the former mayor.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.  Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter. 

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Feds seek money from fundraising site used by Kwame Kilpatrick