The Investigator: Two more accused of bribing public officials in county probe

CLEVELAND -- Federal prosecutors today accused two men who operated granite supply and installation companies of conspiring to bribe public officials in connection with the ongoing Cuyahoga County corruption probe.

The U.S. Attorney's Office charged Dinesh Bafna and John Valentin with providing free and discounted home improvements to the now notorious Public Official No. 1 and Public Official No. 2.

It is widely reported that those officials are Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo.

"Mr. Bafna is a good person who had the misfortune of having the culture of corruption at the Auditor's office walk into his life," his attorney, Subodh Chandra, said in response to the charges. "Mr. Bafna is not hiding from his responsibilities, however. He is cooperating with authorities, taking responsibility, and working to make things right."

Calls to Valentin, Dimora and Russo, were not immediately returned. Dimora and Russo have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Bafna was president of Mont Granite, which sold natural stone products to wholesalers and also operated several showrooms in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

One of those showrooms was located in Solon on land owned by a sister company, known as Mont Granite Real Properties.

Valentin was a principal in Salva Stone Design, a granite retailer in Cleveland that purchased Mont Granite's products for residential customers.

According to the charges, Mont Granite Real Properties in March, 2005 appealed the property tax valuation for the Solon office to the county auditor's Office.

Two months later, prosecutors allege that Bafna, along with Valentin, provided free or discounted home improvements and materials from Salva Stone and Mont Granit to Russo.

In return, Russo told Bafna that he "would take care of" the property tax valuation issue, prosecutors allege.

In late 2005, the auditor's office reduced the property value from $1.56 million to $1.23 million, prosecutors note.

Initially, the auditor's office in June, 2006 increased the appraised value of Bafna's Pepper Pike home from $863,300 to $1.11 million, according to the charges.

But after Mont Granite supplied raw granite slabs and a sink to Russo's house, the value of Bafna's home was reduced to $865,000.

Prosecutors also accused Valentin of having Salva Stone perform discounted home improvements and materials at Dimora's home from the beginning of 2007 until May 23, 2008.

According to court documents, Dimora selected granite in early 2007 for his indoor and outdoor kitchens, as well as his master bathroom.

Salva Stone later installed that granite without charge.

In return, prosecutors allege, Dimora helped Valentin's friend with a tourist visa application on May 3, 2007.

Salva Stone also installed a sink basin and countertop in Dimora's bathroom in the spring of 2008, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that, after they interviewed Steven Pumper, the president of D-A-S Construction, about his connections to the corruption probe on May 23, 2008, Dimora sent a personal check to Salva Stone for $250, even though the value of the work was about $3,250.