Australia's Redflex hit by US scandals

Australian red-light camera company Redflex Traffic Systems is under fire in the US over allegations its employees bribed city officials to win contracts.

A speed camera sign is pictured on the Gold Coast

Australian red-light camera company is under fire in the US over allegations of bribery. (AAP)

First came the indictment of John Bills, the former managing deputy commissioner of Chicago's Department of Transportation.

Then earlier this month it was revealed a secret grand jury in Chicago had also indicted Karen Finley, the former chief executive of North American operations for Australian red-light traffic camera company, Redflex Traffic Systems.

The alleged bagman in the scandal, Bills' friend Martin O'Malley, was also indicted.

Chicago, of course, has a long, colourful history of gangsters and corruption.

But the Windy City's residents were outraged when it was alleged the Australian company that made Chicago the red-light camera capital of America - with drivers hit by as many as 791,000 tickets in a single year - won $US124 million in contracts by handing over approximately $US570,000 in cash and other personal benefits to Bills.

Redflex's alleged under-the-table dealings also inflamed US President Barack Obama's former right-hand man and current Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel.

"I inherited them and I fired them," Emanuel, elected mayor in 2011, said of his relationship with Redflex.

The alleged payments allowed Bills to live a lavish life, including buying a Mercedes-Benz and an Arizona condominium, and getting Redflex to pay for stays in luxury hotels, golf outings, car rentals and meals.

In return, Bills allegedly used his influence to help Redflex win the contracts.

In 2003, then Chicago mayor Richard Daley, just like other government officials in US and Australian cities and towns, declared the traffic cameras were life-savers.

The Chicago scandal, however, has proven to be a key argument in red-light camera opponents' campaigns across the US to shut them down.

"How any public entity can continue to do business with Redflex in particular, but really any of these companies pitching these ineffective, thieving cameras is beyond me," New Jersey assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, one of the most vocal opponents of traffic cameras in the US, said in a statement.

Redflex did not immediately return AAP's request for comment.

In a statement to US media following 54-year-old Finley's indictment, Redflex said it has made "aggressive leadership changes" and is co-operating fully with authorities.

The company trumpets new or renewed contracts on its website, including a July 10 press release where it announced 13 cities throughout California opted to renew or extend their automated photo enforcement programs.

But the Chicago controversy could be one of several across the US that continue to plague Redflex.

Aaron Rosenberg, a former Redflex executive based in California and a self-described whistleblower who was fired by the company, has filed a lawsuit against Redflex in California.

"Redflex has engaged in systematic bribery and corruption of government officials in various states and municipalities to obtain government contracts for red-light photo enforcement programs," Rosenberg's lawyer, Michael Williams, wrote in a US District Court filing.

Redflex, however, argues Rosenberg's employment was terminated when an internal investigation found he had "disguised thousands of dollars of personal expenses as purported business expenses, and along with other high-level employees made inappropriate payments and gifts to solicit government customers, all in violation of company policy and applicable law".


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