Sonia Rogers ordered the closure of a retail establishment, threatened to fine the owners, and requested bribes of cash and free store merchandise in exchange for reopening the store and not levying the threatened fines, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.
Last September, Rogers entered a store on Broad Street in uniform and, after conducting an inspection, she ordered the business to be closed. Rogers told store management that the store’s municipal business license had expired, and if she were to allow the store to re-open to the public, she should be compensated with a cash bribe for doing them a favor, Platkin said.
Rogers asked for a bribe of $800, telling a store employee to take care of her since, under the city’s code enforcement regulations, the store should remain closed until a fire inspection was completed and the business license was reinstated, Platkin said…