Corruption charges have been filed against a former Midtown Redevelopment Authority official, accused of laundering $8 million in public funds.

A Midtown Redevelopment Authority (MRA) official and two contractors are facing corruption charges after allegedly laundering more than $8 million in taxpayer money.

Former MRA real estate asset manager Todd Edwards is accused of abuse of power, money laundering and theft. Veronica Ugorji and Kenneth Jones, two former contractors for the same authority, are accused of abuse of power and money laundering.

Investigators say Edwards was responsible for billing and contracts with potential vendors. He allegedly used his position, with the help of Ugorji and Jones, to divert millions of public funds – originally intended to cover landscaping and maintenance costs in Midtown – to buy expensive cars and homes, lavish trips and even pornography.

They were all in custody Friday afternoon.

The Midtown Redevelopment Authority and Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 2 were both created in the 1990s and work together to “promote economic development” by improving the quality of life of streets, sidewalks and utilities, according to the authority’s website. Houston Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones, or TIRZs, collect the majority of a neighborhood’s property taxes to cover the cost of these projects. Each zone has a board of directors that decides how the money is spent.

The board of directors of the MRA and TIRZ 2 is made up of the same nine members.

At a news conference Friday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said she believed the board was unable to “provide sufficient oversight to detect a very simple scheme.”

“The project was so simple that even the slightest investigation, or even a second look, would have revealed a lot,” Ogg said. “It’s public corruption 101.”

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This comes after Mayor John Whitmire replaced the majority of Montrose’s TIRZ 27 board – he had publicly disagreed with several of his community improvement projects. He did not confirm Friday whether he would replace anyone on Midtown’s nine-member board.

However, Whitmire said he plans to examine all of the city’s TIRZs, adding that he believes “more investigative work will reveal more conflicts.” Ogg later clarified that the city’s review would not involve the district attorney’s office.

“TIRZs play a very important role in the maintenance and redevelopment of our city,” Whitmire said. “It’s outrageous that we discovered they had criminal intentions.”

The investigation began last fall after years of public outcry from Midtown residents, like Brian Van Tubergen, who complained about the lack of maintenance in the area’s plethora of vacant lots. One of the authority’s goals was to turn these empty lots into affordable housing, but currently hundreds of lots remain vacant.

“We have begged and pleaded with the Midtown Redevelopment Authority, the Board of Trustees, city officials and community leaders to hear our complaints,” Van Tubergen said during Friday’s news conference.

According to Ogg, investigators are currently tracking the money as part of a “longer investigation.” They will later focus on real estate transactions, Ogg said.