The FBI’s investigation into Maryland state Sen. Ulysses Currie, D-Prince George’s, continued to widen Tuesday with the latest round of subpoenas to three state agencies requesting information on his role in the redevelopment of a West Baltimore mall and his influence over traffic light placement near shopping centers.
Since May 29, the FBI has launched a series of searches and subpoenas, starting with an hours-long scouring of Currie’s District Heights home and the Lanham headquarters of Shoppers Food and Pharmacy.
Shoppers’ corporate parent, SuperValue, has said Currie has done consulting work for the company, a relationship Currie never divulged to the legislature’s ethics commission.
The latest round of subpoenas was received this week by the state’s transit, motor vehicle and highway administrations.
FBI agents requested any communications or contacts with Currie regarding shopping centers, grocery stores and in particular the Mondawmin Mall from the transit and motor vehicle administrations.
In the midst of a massive overhaul, Mondawmin Mall is home to a new Shoppers as well as offices for the Motor Vehicle Administration. Adjacent to the mall is a state transit-operated train and bus station, said Jack Cahalan, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation, which oversees all three agencies.
The state has committed to providing $1.8 million to the mall’s owner, Chicago-based General Growth Properties, for the roughly $70 million redevelopment project, said Karen Glenn-Hood, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.
The FBI hasn’t contacted General Growth, said company spokesman Jim Graham, who added he’s still trying to determine whether any of the changes at the mall would affect the train station or the MVA offices.
The State Highway Administration’s subpoena requested any communication from Currie regarding “traffic signals, signs or road improvements” that relate to shopping centers and grocery stores.
Earlier this month, the Highway Administration released a March 2005 e-mail from agency director Neil Pedersen instructing staff to expedite a traffic signal near a Shoppers store in Laurel because it was “very important” to Currie.
Currie also helped pass a 2005 law that allowed Shoppers to shift a lucrative liquor license from a Takoma Park store to one in College Park, and he popped up at meetings between Metro and Prince George’s County officials regarding the sale of 3 1/2 Metro-owned acres for a project that would eventually include a Shoppers.
