► Texas lobbyist Fred Bosse of Houston; greedy crook, ethically dispossessed |
Lobbyist Fred Bosse of Houston; greedy crook, ethically destitute
From about 1994 through 2001, Fred Bosse was a state representative from the 128th District in Houston. Subsequently, Fred Bosse, an attorney became a lobbyist.
While providing continuing disservice to his Houston constituents, Fred Bosse apparently engaged in several shenanigans in regards to his expenditure of campaign funds, which you’ll find under the following headings below. It certainly appears that each and every one of these scams was instituted for the sole purpose of unjustly enriching Mr. Fred "The Boss" Bosse.
1. Fred Bosse’s shenanigans involving purchase of used Jaguar in 2000
Sometime in late May or early June 2000, Fred Bosse purchased a used Jaguar from someone in the Los Angeles area with campaign funds claiming it was to be used in Austin and for ceremonies. The Jaguar was delivered to Fred Bosse sometime in early June 2000 as evidenced by the following campaign expense entry.
Fred Bosse used campaign funds for repairs on the Jaguar as follows:
Fred Bosse further expended campaign funds on the Jaguar as follows:
Jaguar Lease Payments made to Fred Bosse’s Condo
Unbelievably, Fred Bosse claims to have made “lease payments” on the used Jaguar to: 13410 Holly Park, Inc. at: 13410 Holly Park in Houston as follows:
How in the hell do ya make lease payments to yourself on a “used jaguar” that was paid for with campaign funds? Go to (http://tinyurl.com/ybhxe3b) at the Travis County web site to see evidence that Bosse owned this condo. How does that work Freddy Baby? Inquiring minds would like to know!
Lastly, Fred Bosse’s campaign reports never disclose the Jaguar as a campaign asset nor does it disclose how it was disposed of when he left office in 2001, all of which he was required to report.
2. Maintenance costs for Fred Bosse’s Condominium
It is undisputed that Fred Bosse was the owner of this condo. In fact, below is a copy of his ownership that I obtained on the Travis County web site (http://tinyurl.com/ybhxe3b) As you can see, Fred Bosse has owned the condo since January 1991.
Despite his longtime ownership of this condo, Fred Bosse had the chutzpah to use campaign funds to pay $3,488 for air-conditioning and hearing repairs. He also paid $3,984 for maintenance fees, plus $1,671.12 in property taxes as shown below.
3. Furniture/Supplies for Fred Bosse’s Condominium
Fred Bosse also used campaign funds to purchase the following furnishings for the condo he owned.
Fred Bosse’s campaign reports do not disclose any of the above as “assets” of the campaign nor what happened to these assets once he left office in 2001, all of which was required to be disclosed.
4. Campaign costs to send Fred Bosse to Harvard University
Sometime in the summer of 2000, Fred Bosse found it appropriate to spend $8,700 for tuition to attend the “Senior Executives in State and Local Government” course at Harvard, which lasts about two weeks. In addition, Freddy spent another $2,740.72 for expenses, for a grand total of $11,440.72.
What is truly disturbing is Fred Bosse spending $95.00 and $187.50 respectively to “dine with classmates,” and $67.60 for a single lunch. Why was it the responsibility of Bosse’s contributors to pay for meals for his classmates at Harvard? And how in the hell could he have spent $67.60 for a lunch in 2000?
And of course then we have Fred spending $122.30 at a Wine store for refreshments for his apartment while he was at Harvard. Under what theory of Texas Law is a legislator permitted to bill his contributor’s for boozing it up? To be fair to Freddy, if he purchased a couple of bottles of of "Pouille-Fuisse" wine (vintage 1996) produced in Burgandy, France then maybe his conduct is acceptable, right?
5. Legislative Office Equipment Purchases made w/Campaign Funds
Fred Bosse used campaign funds to purchase the following equipment for his office; however, none of these items were ever disclosed as campaign assets nor did he ever disclose the whereabouts of these assets when he left office. Is it possible that Freddy Baby absconded with these assets in total contravention of Texas law?
6. Campaign Funds paid by Fred Bosse to his law firm – Junck (seems apropos) & Bosse
Fred Bosse used campaign funds to pay his law firm located in an office he owned at 13410 Holly Park in Houston as follows. What’s somewhat amazing is the fact that the claimed “overhead expenses” and/or “administrative expenses” always came out to the same “even” dollar amount. Kinda gives a new name to ‘consistency,” if ya know what I mean.
7. Fred Bosse the Lobbyist
The Texas Ethics Commission web site shows that Fred Bosse lobbies for the below named clients with estimated income as follows as of Jan. 2009.
The total income declared by Bosse is over $200,000, which of course doesn’t include any income he derives from the practice of law.
To assure that the above named clients are fully aware that Fred Bosse is an ethical dwarf, I have this date (Feb. 11, 2010) provided them a link to review this expose to assure that they are fully aware of his prior conduct.
8. Conclusion
Unfortunately, pursuant to Texas Law, if a scofflaw such as Fred Bosse is able to conceal the illegal conversion of campaign funds to personal use (criminal misdemeanor) for three years (statute of limitations), then he/she cannot be criminally prosecuted and/or even made to reimburse the contributors that were ripped-off. Is this a joke or what?
Under Ohio Election Laws, the statute of limitations is either two years or one-year from the time the misconduct/crime was discovered.
Since the Texas Ethics Commission is nothing more than a repository for campaign records, it has never to my knowledge ever instituted on its own an investigation for the return of ill-gotten gains by public officials. Put simply, the Texas Ethics Commission gives a bad name to “toothless watchdogs.”
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