more indictments in EBR government corruption probe

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Courtney Scott, who was a top official in former Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome’s administration, was indicted Wednesday on multiple charges resulting from an ongoing corruption probe into East Baton Rouge Parish government.

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Also indicted Wednesday was Veronica Mathis, 39, whose company received a contract for the city-parish in 2023. According to documents obtained through a records request, Mathis’ company Build. Brand. Design. was paid to provide “technical assistance” for the mayor’s Safe, Hopeful, Healthy Baton Rouge program between June and August of 2023.

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According to a source with direct knowledge of the investigation, Build. Brand. Design received more than $738,000 in contracts related to the initiative. Scott allegedly received nearly $194,000 in kickbacks from those funds through payments made to her company, The Byan Group, the source said.

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Records show Scott oversaw the city-parish’s contributions to the Mayor’s Healthy City Initiative, a non-profit that supported several social programs, including Safe, Hopeful, Healthy BR. She resigned from the mayor’s office in July 2024 after she was accused of beating a man with a chair at a Baton Rouge night club a month prior. A video recording of the incident later surfaced in a civil case against her.

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