New details are emerging about former city of Houston water department maintenance manager, Patrece Lee, who is charged for her role in shady water line repair contracts.
In May, police arrested Lee on four counts of bribery and official abuse of capacity. Earlier this week, she was indicted on a sixth charge of organized criminal activity.
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Lee, along with six others, allegedly misused millions of dollars that were intended for emergency water line repair contracts. Investigators say Lee gave the money to her relatives, friends and herself in an elaborate scheme.
KPRC 2 reporter Amy Davis has investigated the city’s water department for two years. In November, Davis exposed the questionable waterline repair contracts within the City of Houston Public Works department. Her reports sparked a criminal investigation that led to the indictments in May.
KPRC 2 Investigates has reached out to each suspect charged in this scandal. They have all denied the claims or refused to comment.
On Nov. 16, Lee was interviewed by an investigator with the Office of the Inspector General. During the interview, she claimed that Andrew Thomas, to whom she awarded a $4.5 million emergency contract, was not her brother.
On the same night, KPRC 2′s DRAINED Investigation aired a clip with Thomas admitting Lee was his sister.
KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis then learned Lee called the inspector general’s office back to retract her original statement.
During a civil service hearing in January where Lee was appealing her termination, she admitted to saying, “‘No, that’s not my brother. No, I don’t know who he is.’ I did say that. He could tell I was lying. And that’s what I told him when I called him the next day.”
“I was like, ‘Me and you been dealing with people for a long time. I’m not a good liar. So, I know you could tell that I was lying.’ And I just, I want to come clean and let you know “Yeah, that is my brother. Yes, this, that and a third. And he was like, ‘Well thank you for your honesty.’”
When asked about her work with contracts, she brought up our ‘DRAINED’ Investigation.
“Everything was flowing like water. What happened is - when Amy Davis came and broke the story, the city got in a panic and stopped everything.”
Here’s a timeline of the KPRC 2 ‘DRAINED’ Investigation into questionable contracts:
November 16, 2023: Millions of dollars in questionable Houston water department contracts uncovered by KPRC 2 Investigates
November 30, 2023: Houston Public Works employees out of work after KPRC 2 Investigation exposes millions in fraudulent contracts
December 5, 2023: ‘We really sat in our trucks, watched YouTube’: City contractor comes forward on questionable water repair contracts
December 18, 2023: Suspended water employee authorized $116K payment to her brother after city of Houston started investigation
December 20, 2023: DRAINED: Who is investigating questionable city contracts? What is the Office of the Inspector General?
*Kim Ogg spoke with Amy Davis about the coming charges. She credits KPRC 2 with bringing this to light. Check out part of that interview here.