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THE MOULTON FAMILY MOLD NIGHTMARE

CLICK HERE TO SEE LETTERS TO & FROM THE MOULTONS

In 1993, we discovered that our home had many structural problems. From that period and through 2003, we constantly asked, Item 1, our Town and State officials to inspect our home. The Town went so far as to say that if they inspected they would incriminate themselves and refused. The State cited their 5^th Amendment Rights of incrimination as well.

Sadly for our family, all refused our requests for inspections except the Massachusetts Rehab Commission. They sent an inspector, after ignoring our requests for several years, but he said not to turn on the water when he was suppose to be looking for water leaks. When he saw nothing leaking, he said there was no problem. My Wife turned on the water and the leaking started. He still reported nothing wrong.

In September of 2000, we saw a CBS News story about Toxic Mold. We contacted the Doctor, Eckardt Johanning of Albany New York that CBS had used in their story. He asked if we had any medical symptoms and we described them. He said to tell our Town officials because the Law said they must inspect.

On October 5, 2000 I spoke before the Barnstable Town Council in the citizen’s comments portion of the meeting. I read to them, Item 2, my concerns and mentioned the CBS Mold story. I also gave them a photo, Item 2, of what might be mold in our home. I asked them to send inspectors to see if we had mold. Our request was ignored.

While seeing Doctors due to our illnesses, it was suggested that we start with a basic test. We did and received the lab report, Item 3, in May 2001. The Lab said that they could not check for the serious types of mold so we hired Assured Indoor Air Quality of Texas. They came and did testing.

Their report, Item 3, of October 2001 was the first time that we learned of having Toxic Mold in our home. Until then we had no knowledge of Toxic Mold in our home. It was then that we actually realized we had a problem and it was affecting our health. We continued to contact the Town, Item 4, and State officials and were still ignored.

To understand what Toxic Mold was we did a lot of research. We learned that we had the four worst types and one, Stachybotrys atra, was an extreme danger. We even went so far as to contact President Bush and received two letters, Item 5, from him.

During the summer of 1992, the Massachusetts Rehab Commission, MRC, was performing handicapped renovations at our home at 38 Hawser Bend in Centerville, Ma. Under Massachusetts Law, a building permit was required due to the altering of plumbing and electrical components. As evidenced in Item 6, no building permit was taken out by the State as required by Law.

I wrote, Item 7, to our Town Building Commissioner and State authorities asking for help. While the State did a partial fix to the shower tiles, the issue of the cut floor joists was not correctly fixed so a safety issue still existed. In 1998, MRC finally sent an Inspector. By this time, we had water leaking into many areas of the house.

The Inspector said he saw no water leaking from the illegally constructed shower. The reason was he told us not to turn any water on. Finally, the MRC told us to get a home equity loan and fix the problem ourselves. The illegal acts of the MRC had helped to diminish the value of our home to zero.

At the same time MRC was making the handicapped renovations, we were making renovations to the basement. We took out our own building permit and hired the contractors. At each stage of construction, we had the Barnstable Town Inspectors view the work at which time they signed off that it complied with all codes and laws.

On the final building inspection, Barnstable Building Inspector Richard Bearse came. He viewed everything with my Wife, Virginia, and our contractor. Mr. Bearse stated everything was according to code and he would make the final approval on our building permit.

He stated he had forgotten his pen so Virginia brought him to our kitchen and gave him one. At that time he stated he was accepting donations to his and his wives upcoming trip. Virginia asked him to repeat what he had just said and he said the same thing. Virginia said she would give him no money so he left without signing the building permit.

In 1993, the Barnstable Police Department did an investigation into Virginia’s complaint against Mr. Bearse. The police called it attempted extortion. As can bee seen by Items 8 and 9 , Mr. Bearse admitted he never signed the original, Item 10 , 1988 building permit, required by Law, when the home was first built. He further admitted that he had seen many building code violations. By stating this knowledge, he admitted to Federal Bank Fraud and Consumer Fraud but was never charged by the Police.

As can be seen, Mr. Bearse told the Police that he had signed the Certificate of Occupancy, Item 11 COO, for the builders on December 28, 1988. This document is required by banks before any new construction loan can be approved. It is a Town warranty that the construction meets or exceeds all local, state and federal codes and laws. Under State Law, a COO cannot be issued unless a home meets or exceeds all codes and the building permit must be signed at all stages of construction.

As can be seen, the COO was actually signed by Mr. Bearse on July 1, 1988 some six months earlier. The Police had this document from the Town Building Department so they knew he was lying. If he was under oath, he committed perjury. We had bought and moved into the house in middle July of 1988. In spite of his lying to them, the Police took no action against Mr. Bearse.

In Items 8 and 9, the Police make use of personal logs that Mr. Bearse gave them. These logs were requested from the Police Department under the Freedom of Information. They were never given. While these logs show Mr. Bearse’s knowledge of the illegal construction of the home, they also raise questions.

If Mr. Bearse ever visited the home during construction, why didn’t he mark the building permit, as Law requires, of the date of his visit and his rejection of the illegal construction. Instead, he uses personal logs that are not Public record.

Perhaps the answer is that he never inspected the home at all. By the time the police investigated, Mr. Bearse was already aware of the major areas of illegal construction. It is very easy to create an imaginary log that admits to what is already known about the illegal construction. It seems that he erred in creating these logs due to the dates about the COO being issued. His signature is on the COO and the date he signed it.

Why would he admit to illegal construction? Due to actions by the Town and State, in December 1993 a Law was passed by the Legislature, with no debate, that was attached to a budget bill. The Governor signed it. The Bill gives a blanket pardon from any legal action for the exact failures as displayed by Mr. Bearse. He knew he was going to be protected.

According to Barnstable Town Public Records, Item 12, it seems that Mr. Bearse’s boss, Mr. Daluz, was also having a few legal problems. In 1993, I submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Town for the affidavit mentioned in the Memo. Several years later it seems the Town destroyed the affidavit while my FOI request was still open. They did not have the authorization, required under State Law, to destroy this document. Authorization is required from the Massachusetts Secretary of State who was also seeking this document on my behalf.

Since 1993, we have been asking the Town of Barnstable for abatement of our property taxes. They have ignored us. We recently discovered that since 1993 the assessing records, Item 13, of the Town have noted “house has structural problems” in the notes section. In spite of this documented knowledge, the Town has been mailing us bills on a home they know has a diminished, if not zero, value. I think this is called Fraud by the US Mail.

In December of 1993, Mr. Thomas Rogers, Chief Building Inspector for the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Safety, came to our home with his team. They spent considerable time inspecting. Upon their completion, Mr. Rogers said the unsigned building permit was illegal and the COO was bank and consumer fraud. He said our home was illegal and the Town had acted illegally. Mr. Rogers called the unsigned building permit the “smoking gun” against the Town.

Under State Law, and his job description, Mr. Rogers is required to write reports of his inspections. As can bee seen by Item 14, he never did. In my research, I also discovered that Mr. Rogers, and members of his staff, also failed to write reports of other illegal building allowed by local government building inspectors. Item 15 shows that they ignored requests from the Massachusetts Attorney General.

In a 1998 report prepared for the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety, the supervisor of Mr. Rogers, it was noted that Mr. Rogers failed to write reports of his inspections of unsafe homes on Nantucket. These were new modular homes. The homes were found to be unsafe and in violation of state building codes. The Nantucket Building Commissioner, John Dunn, was involved in these inspections. Mr. Dunn has recently been indicted on Federal Charges of corruption in his Nantucket position.

A 1998 Department of Public Safety report stated that Mr. Rogers and his staff were responsible for inspecting and for issuing approval stickers to all modular homes. According to the report, Mr. Rogers and his staff gave the inspection approval stickers to the modular home manufacturers. Seems the builders inspected themselves. The State took no actions against Mr. Rogers or his staff.

Upon my further investigation, I discovered Item 16. It seems that in 1990, the State told the City of Boston that Mr. Rogers did not meet the State requirements to be a building inspector. He held this position in Boston, which than transferred him to the Water Dept. A short time later, Governor Weld appointed Mr. Rogers to the very State Board that had ruled Mr. Rogers as an unqualified building inspector.

Since December 8, 1994, I have written to Governor’s Weld, Cellucci, Swift and Romney about these corruption issues and have been ignored. Seems they have appointed Mr. Rogers but fear firing him. The Attorney General’s have also been told of this corruption for several years but have also declined to do anything. Remember, Mr. Rogers ignored a written investigation request by the Attorney General.

In 1996, we finally went to court against the builders of our home. Sadly, the Town decided to protect themselves and the builders. In September of 1996, we found in the Towns Building department files, Item 17, the previously unsigned building permit for the original construction of our home had been tampered with.

Seems Town officials illegally altered the building permit. To alter a building permit is against State Law. To alter it when they knew it was being given to the Courts is Obstruction of Justice. The fact that they faxed it is also Fraud by Wire. By doing this, the Town denied us the right of showing that the builders have acted in a deceitful way.

Since December of 1997, we have been asking the Massachusetts Inspector General to investigate this corruption. Seems, in spite of my many calls and communications, they never bothered to question or interview us. They have done nothing. When asked by other Law and investigative agencies, they stated they were investigating.

Since 1993, we have written to many members of the Massachusetts Senate and Legislature about this ongoing corruption. Promises of action are made and soon forgotten. It seems that none of our State or Legislative leaders care because it is happening to somebody else. They all are long on excuses and short on action!

Since 1993, we have repeatedly asked the Barnstable and State Building and Health Inspectors to come to our home. In 1993, Mr. Rogers did but refused to write a report of the illegal construction he told us of. One must remember the construction was performed by builders that he licensed, by the state that he worked for and by local building inspectors he reviewed. Everybody knew of the illegal construction and they closed their eyes to it.

From this illegal construction, water leaked into our home. These officials knew it and saw it. Still they did nothing. In October 2000 and in November of 2001, I asked our Town Officials and building and health inspectors to come to our home. In October of 2001, I was given Medical and professional confirmation of the Toxic Mold in our home.

So, due to the illegal acts of Barnstable, their building and health inspectors and the State, our home is filled with high levels of dangerous Toxic Mold. All of our Medical Tests show we have been infected by the Toxic Mold and are suffering Medical problems from it.

On October 28, 2002 I had to remove my family from our home and we became homeless. Neither fire, an act of God nor natural disaster forced us from our home and into the street. Instead, it was the combined illegal and corrupt actions of our Town and State that are responsible.

Corrupt officials and their illegal acts have done more harm to my family than any natural disaster, armed thieves, terrorists or foreign invader. They have stolen our health, home and possessions. We refuse to surrender our dignity and integrity.

I contacted my local insurance agent. It wasn’t until well over a year later that an adjuster came to our home. They said, Item 18, the Toxic Mold was a byproduct of the illegal construction of the original builders, the illegal modifications made by the state and the failures of the town to inspect at any time of any of the construction. In their written report to us they said nothing was covered.

Due to the illegal acts of Barnstable, their building and health inspectors, our home is filled with high levels of Toxic Mold many times higher than allowed by the CDC. All of our Medical Tests show we have been infected by the Toxic Mold and are suffering serious Medical problems from it. Even after leaving our home, our Doctor’s don’t know if we will ever regain our full health.

All of this has cost us our home, belongings from over 34 years of marriage, health and savings. Our health insurance will no longer cover our mold illnesses for the medical care and testing we still need. We have already spent over 30 thousand dollars of our own on our medical bills and testing.

Ken Moulton

Addendum –

We moved to Oklahoma in October 2002 with only the clothes on our back. Everything was invested with Toxic Mold. Our insurance company refused to cover our home or belongings because they said all of the problems were due to the failure of the original construction of the house, the state construction in 1992 and the failures of the inspections by the town and state.

In spite of the total knowledge by the town, state and bank, they allowed the home to be sold as is with the Toxic Mold still there. The bank told the new owners they could sell our belongings if they wanted. I reported to the Governor and AG that this was theft because we had never been served with eviction papers but they did nothing. Our possessions have a value of over 220 thousand dollars.

I also told them how the new owners had rented a dumpster, probably to throw away some of our possession, and they used our name for the bill and it was mailed to us. I reported this to AG and Governor as identity theft and mail fraud but still nothing was done.

Between our home and possessions we have lost over 750 thousand dollars. That does not include family photos and antiques. Add our destroyed health and there is no price tag high enough for what we lost.

As a side issue, the Massachusetts Chief State Building Inspector, Thomas Rogers, that was involved with never reporting or enforcing the codes in our case was indicted on state charges a few weeks ago. Seems he was giving state licenses to those that were unqualified. I spoke with the FBI about him over the phone but they never sent agents in person nor did they ask for the governments own records that showed his corruption.

The Boston globe reporter that covered the Inspectors case used the state records I provided him to write his major article of the total corruption. Seems the corruption also involved the State medical examiner.

Both John Kerry and George Bush are aware of the corruption and no State or Federal Agency has become involved. I consider this Government corruption as dangerous to citizens as a terrorist threat because the government corrupters can kill us just as quickly when they refuse to obey and enforce health, fire, building and safety laws.

In Massachusetts the Department of Public Safety covers homeland security. They also knew of the corruption by their Chief Inspector and medical examiner. Sure makes Massachusetts sound like a great tourist attraction.

While we want to help others, we too need help! PLEASE?

Ken Moulton

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Agency under scrutiny, safety chief warns staff

By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff, 10/4/2003

State Public Safety Commissioner Joseph S. Lalli yesterday held an "emergency meeting" of inspectors and staff, warning that state and federal investigators probing allegations of misconduct in the agency's licensing procedures are watching their every professional move.

The meeting, which involved nearly 100 Department of Public Safety employees at the agency's Taunton offices, was held one day after Lalli placed the department's chief inspector, Thomas L. Rogers, on paid leave while authorities probe allegations that Rogers flouted state laws in the licensing of contractors and engineers.

"He said it was the worst 24 hours of his life," one department employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said of Lalli's message. "He said there's going to be a lot of people here checking into things, so watch out."

Lalli did not return calls seeking comment yesterday. Rogers, of Hyde Park, also could not be reached.

Rogers was appointed to the agency by Governor William F. Weld early in his administration to oversee the testing and licensing of thousands of firefighters, crane operators, nuclear plant supervisors, and other workers to ensure safety.

Yesterday the Globe reported that an internal agency report issued in the summer found that under Rogers, 57 state license holders working on cranes, sprinkler systems, refrigeration equipment, and oil burners had either not taken mandatory exams, produced evidence of education and work experience, or paid the requisite fees.

The FBI has been looking into licensing irregularities at DPS for close to a decade, according to officials in the administration of Governor Mitt Romney. The investigation being conducted by State Attorney General Thomas Reilly only began this week, after Romney's public safety secretary, Edward A. Flynn, referred the case. Yesterday, state troopers assigned to the Corruption, Fraud and Computer Crimes division took away boxes of evidence from the DPS Taunton offices.

Rogers, who holds a construction supervisor license, is also administrator of the Board of Building Regulations and Standards, which adjudicates disputes between local building inspectors and property owners, among other duties.

In 1990, the board deemed that Rogers was not qualified to serve as a local building inspector, state records show. One year later, Weld chose Rogers to run the board.

Questions about Rogers's work on the regulations board have been aired as well, a Globe investigation has found.

A July 1998 report authored by Kevin J. Harrington, former executive director of the state Criminal Justice Training Council, determined that the board, under Rogers's leadership, failed to require manufacturers of modular homes to employ licensed craftsworkers for electrical and plumbing work on the prefabricated residences. The report also takes Rogers to task for failing to maintain reports and records of visits to homeowners who had contacted the board when their Nantucket modular homes began to leak and fall apart. The report also cites the board for allowing the manufacturer of the homes, New England Homes of New Hampshire, to inspect its own handiwork, with no site visits from state inspectors.

Despite such criticism, former Governor Paul Cellucci was poised to name Rogers to the post of public safety commissioner a year later, until allegations arose that Rogers had sexually harassed a subordinate.

Lalli, who was DPS general counsel during the Nantucket modular home problem, told agency employees yesterday that Rogers is "innocent until proven guilty," but said the department was now "under siege" as a result of the licensing crisis, employees said.

Lalli said Assistant Chief of Inspections Mark F. Mooney would fill in as acting chief of inspections until a replacement for Rogers could be found. Rogers's board duties will be taken up by Thomas M. Riley, who is a top program manager for the agency.

Shortly after Lalli spoke to his staff yesterday, a family in Lawton, Okla., reported receiving a telephone call from a special agent in the Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, looking into a decade-old complaint the family had filed about Rogers.

Ken Moulton, speaking in a telephone interview, told the Globe that FBI special agent Krista Corr called yesterday afternoon seeking information about a 1993 run-in the Moultons had with Rogers, after a state-subsidized project to make their former home in Centerville handicap-accessible went awry. Moulton says Rogers refused to document problems caused by the contractors and that Rogers later stonewalled a state attorney general investigation into the matter.

Moulton reported his allegations to the FBI several years ago. Moulton also appealed to Romney while Romney was running for governor last year. He received an e-mail reply from Jason T. Roeder, a campaign staffer, who proclaimed the situation a case of "sheer corruption."

"Be confident," the Oct. 11, 2002, e-mail says, "that when Mitt is elected he will take the broom of reform and sweep out many of those like Mr. Rodgers [sic] (and hopefully in Mr. Rodgers' case, directly into jail)."

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Mr. Mooney, please forward to Mr. Flynn. I will also fax it to 617-727-5732.

June 30, 2004

Edward Flynn

Secretary, Dept. of Public Safety

One Ashburton Place

Boston, MA. 02018

Dear Mr. Secretary,

As you can see by the following letters, I have been telling your predecessors of the many troubling issues of Thomas Rogers and some of his staff. In my many communications to DPS, I have cited the many failures of Rogers and DPS staff to enforce the Laws of the Commonwealth. The DPS records show the many Public Record documents I provided.

These many documented and reported failures have caused injuries to many Massachusetts families, including mine. In many cases, such as ours, these failures and abuses have left families homeless. The failures and abuses have also damaged the health of family’s such as in our case.

I not only hold your entire Department responsible for their collective failure to do anything to hold Mr. Rogers responsible for his many acts and derelictions, I also hold all Governors, since Weld, AG’s, since Harshbarger, all IG’s since 1996 and the entire Legislature just as responsible.

You see, the Public Record shows that I have reported these acts and derelictions to all of those mentioned and to many more including the FBI and US Attorney General. I acted as the first Whistleblower. Sadly for every family in Massachusetts, everybody closed their eyes and ears to the failures and dereliction of Mr. Rogers. Each and every one of you is responsible for what Mr. Rogers did or failed to do. You all allowed him to get away with it for so too long.

What the Globe and other media have yet to report about Mr. Rogers is how he, and DPS staff, protected incompetent and unlicensed builders and government inspectors that they were suppose to regulate. They let these incompetent and corrupt builders and officials prey upon an unsuspecting public, the citizens of Massachusetts.

As I’m sure you are aware, Mr. Rogers, and others to include current DPS Inspector John Wojciechowicz, was deemed as being unqualified to be a building inspector when he held that position in the City of Boston. In spite of this documented knowledge, Governor Weld appointed him to the State. This would mean that any project that Mr. Rogers, or any of the others mentioned in the State memo, was involved in must be re-inspected according to the Law.

I estimate that the cost of the homes that the incompetent and illegal builders and inspectors, that Mr. Rogers protected, constructed and approved would far exceed 250 million dollars. When you add on all of the other areas that Mr. Rogers is alleged to have failed or refused to do his job of protecting the citizens of Massachusetts, we are probably looking at a price tag in the billions.

When you consider that State and Federally licensed Banks require that home or commercial construction must be inspected by government inspectors and meet certain standards, how many cases may the State now also face of State and Federal bank fraud as a result of the failures of Mr. Rogers and others in DPS and that he regulated? What is also sad is that many banks hired local and state inspectors to be the banks inspectors as well. We, the citizens, were blindsided.

You must also consider the issue of vast Consumer fraud in these same cases. When construction is performed, inspections must take place and a Certificate of Occupancy must be given to secure bank loans, The COO is the Governments legal and binding assurance that construction meets or exceeds all standards, laws and codes.

It seems that the State not only may have to make restitution to banks but also to the thousands of homeowners and businesses that were effected by the failures of those at DPS. What about banks and/or businesses that might have failed because of these bad loans? When you take the cost, perhaps a few billion dollars, and add on Court and Legal fees we are discussing some “serious” money!

Mr. Rogers and the failures of DPS and others is not an issue that is going to disappear. For those families, like mine, that lost everything due to the many documented failures, we cannot afford to just walk away and forget and forgive. You, the State, were suppose to be protecting the citizens and you all failed miserably.

My family lost, in just monetary terms, over 750 thousand dollars. What price tag do you consider when you add on the terror, insults, anguish, destroyed health, broken promises, lost dreams and memories? Who do we see for that? Who will come forward and apologize? Who will compensate us for what was taken from us?

Yours Truly,

Ken Moulton

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Safety official indicted on license charges

By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff | June 22, 2004

A Suffolk County grand jury yesterday indicted a top state official on charges that he issued licenses to heavy- equipment operators and oil burner repairmen without requiring them to take state competency exams, and then attempted to interfere with an investigation into his conduct.

Thomas L. Rogers, 69, the Department of Public Safety's deputy commissioner, was indicted on 25 counts of falsifying the professional license applications of trades workers, 23 counts of violating the hoisting license statute, three counts of encouraging applicants to lie to the grand jury, and one count of obstructing justice.

In a statement announcing the indictment, Attorney General Thomas Reilly said Rogers ''betrayed the trust and responsibility placed in him to uphold the law and protect the public."

''By falsifying exams and allowing potentially unqualified workers to obtain licenses, he placed workers and the public at risk," Reilly said.

Rogers was first appointed to the position of chief of inspections by Governor William Weld and later appointed to deputy commissioner in 2000. His attorney, Tom Kiley, told the Associated Press that Rogers would welcome the chance to clear his name. ''Now he gets to fight back, and two sides of the story will finally be told. That will happen in the courtroom," Kiley said.

The obstruction-of-justice charge and three perjury subornation charges are felonies. All told, Rogers could potentially face more than 38 years in prison if convicted. Rogers, who makes more than $86,000 a year, was placed on paid leave when the accusations surfaced in October. He was placed on leave without pay yesterday, and will be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on July 7.

As chief inspector of the state, Rogers oversaw the testing and licensing of dozens of trades that involve heavy machinery and dangerous equipment, such as construction supervisors, crane operators, oil burner technicians, and many more. State laws call for license applicants to pass a test by demonstrating their skills, and many must have years of experience to qualify for a license.

The charges came nine months after state Public Safety Secretary Edward A. Flynn referred allegations about Rogers's conduct to Reilly. A Globe investigation last year revealed that Rogers ordered subordinates to issue such licenses to dozens of workers without first giving them required tests or that he condoned the practice. In one instance, three licenses in one day went to the nephew of the now-deceased, longtime state senator Paul D. Harold.

The scandal involving Rogers was one of the main reasons Governor Mitt Romney asked the commissioner of Public Safety, Joseph S. Lalli, to step down in December. He has since been replaced by Thomas Gatzunis, the former town engineer and building inspector of Belmont, Romney's hometown.

In a statement yesterday, Gatzunis sought to ''restore confidence in the integrity of the licensing and permitting processes."

''I am confident that the systems I have already put in place and the additional reforms I plan to implement will serve as an early warning system if such misconduct should be attempted in the future," Gatzunis said.

The most serious charges Rogers faces stem from his alleged actions after the grand jury began to hear evidence in his case, said Kurt N. Schwartz, Reilly's Criminal Bureau chief.

''We allege that after Mr. Rogers learned of a grand jury investigation into the issuances of licenses, that he attempted to convince three license recipients to lie in the grand jury about the testing procedure that he administered or, in this case, did not administer," Schwartz said. ''The evidence that it happened is strong and beyond a reasonable doubt."

Reilly's office said other charges stem from allegations that Rogers issued 23 hoisting licenses -- issued to operate heavy equipment -- and two oil burner licenses without administering exams required by law. It could not be determined last night whether the applicants continue to hold state licenses; state public safety officials did not return a reporter's calls seeking their comment.

''These licenses, and there are 25 in these indictments, we allege were issued directly by Rogers, not by others," Schwartz said. ''We're alleging that Rogers signed off on these 25 license applications and that Rogers personally falsely certified that he personally had given tests to these 25."

Schwartz said Rogers issued the 25 licenses over the 18 months immediately prior to his suspension in October. Reilly's office chose to examine that time period because the Department of Public Safety in April 2002 revamped its licensing system, computerizing testing and grading, among other things.

Schwartz said there was no evidence to suggest that Rogers was personally enriching himself through bribery or extortion.

''We have not charged bribery," Schwartz said. ''We do not have evidence to support any such indictments. We are not prepared to speculate or comment on possible motives."

Soon after Rogers joined the state Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began probing irregularities in the department's licensing procedures.

The FBI neither confirms nor denies investigations, but the Globe reported last fall that city of Cambridge officials, as well as a former Centerville homeowner, have been interviewed in relation to interactions with Rogers.

In the 1980s, when Rogers worked in Boston City Hall in the inspections department, Rogers was singled out by fellow employees for providing information to the FBI in a bribery investigation that led to 11 indictments. The probe was headed by Weld's office when he was the local US Attorney.

In 1999, Governor Paul Cellucci considered Rogers for the position of Public Safety Commissioner, but the offer was withdrawn after a sexual harassment case against Rogers surfaced. The Globe reported in 1999 that Rogers was found to have harassed an underling in 1995, and that Rogers was ordered to undergo sensitivity training.

After Rogers was placed on leave in October, Flynn -- Romney's secretary of public safety -- began the process of hiring independent auditors to determine if any of the thousands of professional licenses issued during Rogers's tenure were given out improperly. A spokeswoman for Flynn did not return calls yesterday.

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