Federal investigators have requested phone records and other documents for more than 30 people involved in Detroit's demolition program, according to two subpoenas released today by the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

A federal subpoena to the Land Bank on May 19 demanded voice mail voicemail communications, phone records and work calendars for 14 people at the Land Bank, including executive director Carrie Lewand-Monroe.

Another subpoena went out the same day to the Detroit Building Authority that requested e-mails, phone records, voice mails, voicemails, text messages and work calendars for 18 people associated with the Building Authority, including David Manardo, Mayor Mike Duggan's group executive for operations, and former deputy director James Wright, who resigned unexpectedly in August.

Duggan hand-picked Manardo and Wright, both of whom he knew during his time as president and CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, to help lead the demolition program when he took office.

The subpoenas were served on the Detroit Land Bank and the Building Authority, which jointly manage the city's demolition program, as part of an ongoing criminal investigation by SIGTARP, a federal law enforcement agency, and the FBI.

The requested records are related to federally funded demolition contracts and several companies, including Adamo Demolition, Homrich and MCM Management.

The subpoenas provide the most detailed information yet about the federal probe into the Detroit demolition program's operations since Duggan took office. The documents suggest investigators cast a wide net when issuing the subpoenas in May, about three weeks after the investigation first was made public.

"I truly applaud the federal government for doing a far-reaching investigation of this administration," said local activist Robert Davis, whose lawsuit against the Land Bank to obtain the subpoena prompted today's release of the document.

The city’s demolition program, which Duggan restructured shortly after taking office in 2014, is under a federal probe that is lead by SIGTARP, a watchdog and law enforcement agency that monitors federal spending related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which funded much of the city’s demolition program, and the FBI.

More than $250 million from the federal Hardest Hit Fund has been allocated to Detroit for its demolition program. The city has torn down more than 10,000 blighted properties since Duggan took office.

SIGTARP is a watchdog that monitors federal spending related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the Hardest Hit Fund.

The federal investigation began after it was reported by the Free Press in the fall of 2015 that demolition prices at one point rose 60% — from $8,500-$10,000 per home under former Mayor Dave Bing to an average at one point of $16,400 in 2014 under Duggan's administration. The average demolition price per residential property this year is $12,618, according to the city.

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The documents' sudden release — on the Friday before New Year's Day — came as a surprise, as its unsealing was scheduled for Jan. 12, according to an oral directive given by Wayne County Circuit Judge David Allen earlier this month.

"In cooperation with SIGTARP, the DLBA withheld the subpoena based on the ongoing nature of the investigation. The December hearing before Judge Allen gave us clear guidance, and we are releasing the subpoena in accordance with Judge Allen’s opinion and order," said Detroit Land Bank spokesman Craig Fahle.

Fahle said the subpoenas were posted shortly before noon to the Land Bank's website.

"We want it out there for everybody to look at," Fahle said. "We're complying with the order from the judge. We're putting it out today."

The decision was in Judge Allen's hands because Davis sued the Detroit Land Bank Authority after his Freedom of Information Act request for the subpoena was denied. The Land Bank also denied a similar FOIA request from the Free Press.

Lawyers for the federal government fought to keep the Land Bank subpoena private because its contents include names and other details about the nature and scope of the investigation.

Allen first heard that rationale in August, and he gave authorities three months to advance their investigation while the subpoena remained sealed. But when the federal government at a Dec. 13 hearing offered the same reasoning for shielding the document from the public's view, Allen decided the investigation was a public matter and the subpoena would be released in one month, on Jan. 12.

Others named on the subpoenas include Land Bank general counsel Michael Brady, Land Bank board chairwoman Erica Ward Gerson and Brian Farkas, director of special projects for the Building Authority.

The subpoenas also requested Land Bank and Building Authority meeting minutes and notes that dealt with the federal Hardest Hit Fund and demolition contracts. No one has been charged with a crime in the investigation.

The second subpoena, to the Detroit Building Authority, requested e-mails, voicemail communications, phone records, text messages and work calendars for 18 people, including Manardo, James Wright, the authority's former deputy director, who resigned unexpectedly in August, and director of special projects Brian Farkas.

Duggan spokesman John Roach declined to comment on the subpoenas Friday.

The subpoena to the Building Authority also sought meetings minutes and notes related to various demolition contracts.

Several companies and other organizations related to Detroit's demolition program were listed on both subpoenas. They are Adamo; Homrich; MCM; Bierlein; Mike Farrow, owner of the Farrow Group; Barry Ellentuck, owner of ADR Consulting, and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

Adamo, Homrich and MCM — which were known in demolition circles as the big three — all were awarded lucrative unit-price contracts that involved costly change orders for asbestos work and backfill dirt. Before Detroit demolition officials released specifications for the unit-price contracts to all demolition firms, they met with the big three and Bierlein to discuss prices. Bierlein did not apply for the work. Representatives from Adamo, Homrich and MCM declined to comment or could not be reached.

Ellentuck, a former consultant for Detroit's demolition program, filed a lawsuit in September accusing several local and state officials of perjury, malicious prosecution and making a concerted effort to prevent him from cooperating with the ongoing federal investigation into the city demolition program.

The suit came two months after a jury acquitted Ellentuck of a felony charge that he overbilled the Detroit Land Bank Authority by of about $6,300.

Contact Joe Guillen: 313-222-6678, jguillen@freepress.com or on Twitter @joeguillen.