An investment banker seeking business with the City of Birmingham has a checkered history of indictments, allegations of political payola and courtroom exonerations, but some city councilors have expressed interest in doing business with him and his firm, postponing a major bond deal until he can get an audience with Mayor Bernard Kincaid.

On Monday, investment banker Calvin Grigsby pitched the Birmingham City Council to give his firm, Grigsby & Associates, at least part of a $142 million bond deal, which will finance $53 million in new projects and pay $25 million toward existing projects, including the Railroad Reservation Park downtown. The remaining $64 million will refinance old debt.

Grigsby did not tell the council that he was indicted twice in the late 1990s for what federal prosecutors claimed was a kickback scheme at the Miami Ports. After a wide-reaching FBI sting in Miami, called “Operation Greenpalm,” prosecutors accused Grigsby of conspiracy, embezzlement and money laundering, but none of the charges stuck.

Grigsby was acquitted in both cases, but not before his San Francisco-based investment firm, Grigsby Brandford & Co., collapsed because of affiliation with the scandal. The company had been the largest minority-owned bond underwriter in the country. But in 1996, Grigsby and two other partners abruptly resigned from the firm shortly before he was indicted, and the firm later dissolved itself.

Since then, Grigsby has been rebuilding his portfolio, starting his new firm, Grigsby & Associates, and slowly winning investment business around the country.

Records from the National Association of Securities Dealers indicate that Grigsby & Associates was suspended in 1999 for “failure to comply with formal written requests to submit financial information,” but the firm’s certification has since been reinstated.

Last month, Grigsby proposed to the city a $40 million plan to renovate the A.G. Gaston Hotel, with lofts, a new hotel and retail space. Grigsby is working with the St. Louis-based Roberts Companies on the proposal, which would require $9 million of cash and tax incentives from the city. The mayor has not yet agreed to the proposal.

In meetings with the city council, Grigsby has claimed credit for discovering $3 million of savings through refinancing bond debt, but Mayor Kincaid said this week that the city’s investment team had already identified those savings.

In California, Grigsby has prospered, some say because of an extensive network of political connections to local, state and national officials. He has made substantial campaign donations on many levels, including to former U.S. Sen. Carol Mosley Braun and to the Democratic National Committee.

Grigsby & Associates recently opened an office in Birmingham, qualifying with the Secretary of State’s office on March 26, 2007. According to those filings, the registered agent for the company here is Mahari A. McTier.

The Weekly attempted to reach Grigsby by phone in his San Francisco office on Tuesday. A message left on his voice mail has not been returned.

— Kyle Whitmire

Check back for updates as the story develops.

Have a tip? Send them to kyle@bhamweekly.com