The director of the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency has issued a statement following the announcement Thursday that criminal charges have been filed against former director Maurice Taggart and another person alleging the misuse of public funds.
Taggart and Roderick Morris of Houston, Texas, are accused of bilking Urban Renewal and the City of Pine Bluff out of $667,394 between May 2019 and August 2021.
Current Urban Renewal Director Chandra Griffin said in the statement Friday that “The PBURA first discovered discrepancies between its records and the City’s and immediately reported these issues to the proper authorities. PBURA has fully cooperated with the investigation into this matter.”
Griffin went on to say “The PBURA will continue to cooperate with law enforcement authorities throughout this process with the goal of properly upholding the public trust.”
Because this is a pending criminal investigation, Griffin said the Urban Renewal Agency will have no further comment at this time.Urban
