• A former Detroit People Mover official is accused of accepting $300,000 in bribes.
• The official allegedly approved phony invoices for IT work that was never performed.
• The businessman who submitted the invoices owned a home restoration company with no IT experience.

More than a decade ago, a juror in a Detroit public corruption trial that ended with three men getting convicted in a $97 million bribery scheme exclaimed: “Hopefully this is the end of this nightmare … this is a whole new beginning.”

It didn’t quite go that way as the following years saw two city councilmen indictments, a dozen school principal bribery convictions, a towing scandal, as well as a toxic dirt and demolition fiasco.

And now there’s this.

In a new criminal filing in U.S. District Court, a former city official in charge of the Detroit People Mover shuttle is charged with taking $300,000 in bribes from a businessmen who reportedly billed the city for work that was never performed — all with the help of his connected associate.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, June 2 in U.S. District Court, the alleged scheme involves 55-year-old Michael Anderson, a former director with the Detroit Transportation Corporation, who allegedly helped Detroit businessman Terrence Parker bill the city for nearly $305,000 in information technology work that was never performed.

Moreover, court records show, Parker’s company has no experience with IT work, but rather performs restoration work on homes damaged by storms and natural disasters. Still, the FBI says, Parker managed to submit 22 phony invoices to the DTC for IT work, including fixing computer monitors — and got paid for all of it. That’s because Anderson was approving his phony invoices from the inside, the government says, and getting money in exchange for his help.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The Detroit Tigers shut down two of their shortstops on the injured list.

The biggest name?

Javier Báez.

The 33-year-old has been shut down from baseball activities after meeting with a specialist Monday, June 1, about the lack of progress in recovery from a right high ankle sprain, which he suffered April 28. (The Tigers also shut down Trey Sweeney, who has been sidelined with a right shoulder strain since spring training and needs further medical evaluation.)

“We’re still dissecting all the diagnoses and what’s going on with him,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Báez before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. “He’s just not progressing very quickly, and right now, rest is still part of the equation.”

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The Tigers tried to start Báez’s return-to-play progression with running, hitting and fielding drills.

He still felt symptoms of the high ankle sprain.

“I’m not a doctor,” Hinch said, “but I understand it watching Javy go through a very slow process of the swelling and the bleeding and all the things that go on inside that type of sprain.”

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How long until Báez returns to baseball activities?

The timeline is unknown.

He isn’t expected to need surgery, which means he should return at some point after the All-Star break in 2026.

“From what I was told, we’re on the right path and everything is going well,” Hinch said. “These are just really tricky. The path that we’re on, we’re just going to go slow. Baseball activity is going to slow down because we’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of the symptoms.”

Before the injury, Báez played in 24 games for the Tigers, hitting .256 with two home runs, two walks and 16 strikeouts. The injury occurred while running to first base against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, as he tried to avoid a tag with an awkward slide.

The 13-year MLB veteran’s contract with the Tigers runs until November 2027. He is in the penultimate season of a six-year, $140 million contract from December 2021.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.