Posted on 08/24/2006 8:19:33 PM PDT by calcowgirl
In a second case growing out of the City Hall "pay-to-play" corruption scandal, a former Hahn administration commissioner faced charges Wednesday of bribery, conflict of interest, perjury and embezzlement.
The most significant of 20 counts against Leland Wong, 49, of San Marino centers on charges that he got $100,000 in 2002 from an executive of the Taiwanese firm Evergreen Shipping. Wong served on the Airport Commission at the time and voted on a contract for the firm.
"The indictment ... is a significant step in rooting out corrupt public officials and exposing corruption within public institutions," District Attorney Steve Cooley said in a statement.
Wong, who denied wrongdoing, also faces charges that he embezzled and attempted to embezzle thousands of dollars worth of money and property while he was Los Angeles area director of government relations for Kaiser Permanente and underreported his income to the Internal Revenue Service.
He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Prosecutors had sought $390,000 bail, but Wong was released on his own recognizance. A pretrial hearing is set for Sept. 7.
For nearly three years, Cooley's office and federal authorities have been investigating allegations of pay-to-play contracting practices in the administration of former Mayor James Hahn. The only other charges resulted in federal court convictions of two public-relations executives accused of fraud for overbilling the Department of Water and Power.
Prosecutors began investigating Wong after an audit by City Controller Laura Chick found that city commissioners were deeply involved in negotiating with contractors, giving the impression that they had to make political contributions to get a deal.
Wong's service as a city commissioner dates back to Mayor Tom Bradley's administration and includes stints in the three independent revenue agencies: the DWP, airports and harbor.
He is the first big player to be charged in the City Hall scandal that many say led to Hahn's re-election defeat and has left a cloud over City Hall.
Wong's attorney, Janet Levine, said she is confident he will be exonerated.
"This looks like a witch hunt to us," Levine said. "The district attorney has spent three years and countless hours investigating this and they had to come up with something."
Assistant District Attorney Max Huntsman said none of the accusations against Wong involves fundraising for Hahn or the original allegations in the pay-to-play controversy involving the former mayor.
"I think, to some people, the term bribery is a form of pay-to-play, but we are not alleging any campaign violations," Huntsman said.
Huntsman said it was Wong's actions on the airport contract that caused the problem.
"People can give money without it being considered a bribe, until some action is taken," Huntsman said.
The indictment said Wong received the payment from Ren-Gung Shyu, identified only as an executive of Evergreen Shipping, a major contractor with the city.
It said Wong took the money "for the purpose of influencing the action of (Wong) upon a matter pending before" the city's Airport Commission.
In addition, the indictment said Wong was guilty of a conflict of interest in actions he took as a commissioner while having a financial interest in Evergreen or its subsidiary, EVA Airways.
Related to that, the indictment alleges Wong also perjured himself when signing documents stating that he had no financial interests in the firm, and that he failed to report $35,000 he received in cash from Evergreen Marine Corp. in 2003.
Efforts to contact officials with Evergreen Corp. were unsuccessful.
Hahn had led a trade delegation to the Far East and Evergreen was a prime target of the city's effort to generate more air and sea shipping business.
Thirteen of the charges involve embezzlement from Kaiser Permanente. Levine said they involved the use of tickets to sporting events, referring to allegations that Wong profited from reselling valuable tickets that were paid for by his employer.
"We will show that Mr. Wong did nothing improper," Levine said.
Wong was forced to resign from his job at Kaiser Permanente amid allegations that he improperly used his employer's money to sponsor campaign fundraisers and to give politicians gifts.
Jim Anderson of Kaiser Permanente said the company had no direct comment on the case and referred calls to prosecutors.
Other charges included filing false income tax information for three years and failing to report income in a foreign bank account.
The case against Wong is only the second involving former Hahn political allies. The federal government won convictions in a fraud case against two former public-relations executives, Doug Dowie and John Stodder, related to overbilling at the Department of Water and Power by the firm of Fleishman Hillard. They are facing a sentencing hearing in October.
Prosecutors would not say Wednesday whether more cases are pending.
Bob Stern of the Center for Governmental Studies, who has closely followed the City Hall scandal, said he was surprised to learn that Evergreen - which was involved more than a decade ago in a money-laundering campaign scandal - would again be at the center of controversy.
"What's interesting also is the amount of time it has taken to get this far and the fact that Leland Wong is the only former official to be named and that it didn't involve campaign contributions," Stern said.
"Unless the prosecutors have more, you would think they are winding things up. But all that could change."
Huntsman defended the length of the Wong investigation.
"This was a very difficult case and people were trying to hide information from us," Huntsman said.
The case was developed as part of a joint task force with federal officials. More than 40 witnesses were called to testify before grand jurors, including Hahn and several of his top aides as well as former top city and business officials.
These included former Deputy Mayor Tim McOsker, Hahn's chief of staff; Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards, who was Hahn's liaison to the Department of Airports; and Airport General Manager Lydia Kennard.
Other witnesses included officials with Evergreen and Kaiser Permanente.
Levine said she was encouraged by the decision of Judge David Wesley to release Wong on his own recognizance.
"Mr. Wong was born in Chinatown and has his family here," Levine said.
"He has proudly served this community and has been active in local politics for many years. He has not committed any crime whatsoever and we look forward to proving that in court."
The Charges
In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, former Los Angeles city commissioner Leland Wong was charged with 13 counts of grand theft by embezzlement; one count of accepting a bribe; two counts of conflict of interest; one count of perjury; and three counts of filing false tax returns. Here are details of the charges:
Count 1: Accepting a bribe: While acting as a city commissioner, Wong accepted a bribe of $100,000 on or between June 1, 2002, and Jan. 30, 2004, from Ren-Gung Shyu.Count 2: Conflict of interest in connection with the $100,000 payment.
Count 3: Conflict of interest: On or about Dec. 17, 2002, while in his position as a commissioner, Wong became financially interested in an LAX lease extension for EVA Airways, an Evergreen Group company.
Count 4: Perjury: On or about March 28, 2003, Wong failed to disclose on financial reports $35,000 received from Evergreen Marine Corp., an Evergreen Group company.
Count 5: Grand theft by embezzlement: On or about April 13, 2000, while employed by Kaiser Permanente, Wong took money and personal property worth more than $400.
Count 6: Grand theft by embezzlement: On or about May 30, 2000, Wong took from Kaiser money and personal property worth more than $400.
Count 7: Grand theft by embezzlement: On or about June 4, 2000, Wong took from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 8: Grand theft by embezzlement: On or about June 6, 2000, Wong took from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 9: Grand theft by embezzlement: On or about June 6, 2001, Wong took from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 10: Grand theft by embezzlement: On or about Jan. 5, 2001, Wong took from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 11: Grand theft by embezzlement: On or about Jan. 13, 2002, Wong took from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 12: Grand theft by embezzlement: On or about Feb. 1, 2003, Wong took from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 13: Grand theft by embezzlement: On or about Dec. 3, 1998, Wong took from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 14: Grand theft by embezzlement: Between April 18, 2000, and Dec. 11, 2000, Wong attempted to take from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 15: Grand theft by embezzlement: Between Jan. 4, 2001, and Dec. 5, 2001, Wong took from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 16: Grand theft by embezzlement: Between Feb. 4, 2002, and Dec. 20, 2002, Wong attempted to take from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 17: Grand theft by embezzlement: Between Jan. 10, 2003, and Nov. 30, 2003, Wong attempted to take from Kaiser money and property worth more than $400.
Count 18: Filing false tax return: On April 14, 2003, Wong underreported income and falsely denied having a foreign bank account.
Count 19: Filing false tax return: On April 14, 2004, Wong underreported income.
Count 20: Filing false tax return: On April 15, 2005, Wong falsely denied having a foreign bank account.
Sigh, Silly ol' Los Angles, will your ever so lovable and trustworthy City Officals stop taking bribes and attempt to honest work? I think not... but that's just me
Don't end up on the Wong side of the law.
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