Accused of pocketing Detroit pension dollars, connected developer avoids charges

A politically-connected Detroit businessman accused of pocketing a small fortune belonging to one of the city’s pension systems avoided criminal charges--after quietly paying the pension system nearly $700,000 in October. For just over 30 months, Douglass Diggs was a court-appointed receiver for the Detroit Police and Fire Pension System. He was brought in after the pension board gave a $10 million loan to an investor that promised to buy distressed properties throughout the city that he would then resell.