The city of Tempe has confirmed the termination of economic development director Michael DiDomenico. His firing comes over allegations that he funneled city funds to his own businesses.
The Arizona Republic reported that an internal audit of DiDomenico found he diverted $8,000 of these funds to his cleaning company called Arizona Maintenance Pro. A portion of those funds were paid to a fiduciary identified as Upland Group, which the Republic says employed DiDomenico.
Upland Group maintains the financial accounts for the city.
DiDomenico illegally hired the maintenance company and did not conduct public bidding for the contract. Furthermore, DiDomenico did not disclose his association with Upland Group.
In a statement to KJZZ, the city of Tempe says the investigation remains ongoing.
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