FBI Raids Kwanzaafest Founder’s Offices
The founder of Kwanzaafest is under investigation for not disclosing where most of the $1 million made during the festival in 2009 went.
On Monday, the FBI raided the offices and homes of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, his top aide and his political consultant. The FBI has not commented on the raid, but County Judge Clay Jenkins told news outlets that agents were executing the search pursuant to a federal warrant.
On Tuesday, Price’s attorney, Billy Ravkind, said that he gave a federal grand jury detailed financial information of Kwanzaafest when they asked for it “months ago,” but he couldn’t remember if it was subpoenaed or “simply requested,” according to a local station.
The two-day festival celebrating Black heritage started by Price brought in $1,047,764 in 2009.
On the festival’s tax return, however, only $33,829 of that money was itemized with the label “advertising and promotion.” The majority—$930,258—was categorized as “all other expenses.”
"All I can say is that I have no idea what is going on," Price said at a short news conference on Monday. "I came to my office this morning, and it had more people than usual in it."
(Photo: AP/Louis DeLuca)