KELOLAND: Mike Rounds privatized EB5 program with no-bid contract to Joop Bollen

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Contacts: Zach Crago, Executive Director

BREAKING – As Governor, US Senate candidate Mike Rounds privatized the controversial EB5 immigration program with a no-bid contract to his friend Joop Bollen.

How? Rounds cut Bollen’s salary in half so he could grant the lucrative enterprise to his friend without a public bid, according to an investigative report from Ben Dunsmoor with Keloland News.

Now, Bollen and others have made millions administering the state’s EB5 program while South Dakota taxpayers have lost their shirt. (Watch the full story by clicking on the image below.)

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

“South Dakota got involved with the EB-5 immigrant investor program in 2009 when it entered into an exclusive no-bid contract with Joop Bollen and his firm South Dakota Regional Center Inc…

“Documents show during former Governor Mike Rounds’ administration, the state got involved with Bollen when it entered into a $45,000 contract with his company. That amount is just under the $50,000 threshold for requiring public bids in South Dakota.

“That 2009 contract was signed just a year after Bollen was paid $87,000 a year for doing similar work for the state under the South Dakota Board of Regents…

“Despite those numbers, the state’s involvement in the program is still raising questions and records show it all started with an exclusive, no-bid contract.”

SDRC, Inc. Amended Consulting Contract.pdf 

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