LA Deputy Mayor Gets 12 Years in Real Estate “Pay to Play” Scheme
Former LA Deputy Mayor Raymond She Wah Chan gets 12 years in a real estate pay-to-play bribery scandal. Photo credit: Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Raymond She Wah Chan, 68, a former deputy mayor and Los Angeles city official from Monterey Park, California, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his part in a bribery corruption scheme involving property developers in LA, according to a DOJ press release. Chan was also ordered to pay the City of LA restitution of $752,457.
Chan was convicted on March 27 of all 12 felony counts of conspiracy, racketeering, wire fraud, bribery and making false statements after a 12-day trial, according to the press release. This was the last conviction in a long list of high-ranking city officials charged in this RICO case, which included Former LA councilman Jose Huizar, who resigned his position after a long-running pay-for-play scheme was discovered.
Long, Complicated Scheme
The complicated scheme involved many of LA’s top officials and surrounded the application and approvals process for large-scale development projects within the city, according to the superseding indictment naming several other defendants in the RICO case. The approvals system required several different departments, such as the City Council, the L.A. Planning Department and even the Mayor’s Office, before, during and after the project’s completion.
Former councilman Jose Luis Huizar, 56, served LA from 2005 to 2020, where he was a member of the Economic Development Committee and the Chair of the PLUM Committee, which oversaw many commercial and residential development projects in the city.
Chan was appointed Deputy Mayor of LA in May 2016 and then retired from office and became a consultant and lobbyist for developers in July 2017, where he officially began working with George Chiang, 41, a Chinese national from Granada Hills, who pled guilty to conspiracy in this RICO case, according to Chiang’s press release. Chan recruited Chiang to work with Chinese-based companies that wanted to develop projects in LA.
City officials, including Huizar, Chan, and George Esparza, who pled guilty to conspiracy after working for Huizar between 2013 and 2018, solicited and accepted cash, airline tickets, gambling casino chips, political contributions and luxury hotel stays, among other things listed in the superseding indictment from developers looking to start projects in the city. In exchange, the councilmen would help the projects pass smoothly and swiftly through the application system, vote on helpful measures in favor of the developers, and pressure labor unions to resolve issues quickly on a project.
The developers directed payment to the relatives of the councilmen and their associates to help conceal the bribes, according to the superseding indictment. They also made cash drops of less than $10,000 to avoid the bank report requirement.
Huizar publicly apologized in an exclusive NBC-LA interview after the judge issued his 13-year prison sentence, adding that the legal process “painted a picture” of him that he wasn’t. Huizar also said that he believed they did many good things for the city.
Chan has not yet made an official statement to the press regarding his sentence.
More From This Author
Man Sent to Prison after Trying to Defraud a Financial Auditor
Report Jessika Saunders | Nov 20, 2024
Nigerian Sentenced for Defrauding Seniors Via Romance Scams
Report Jessika Saunders | Nov 19, 2024
Fat Leonard Gets 15 Years for Fraud, Bribing Navy Officials
Report Jessika Saunders | Nov 18, 2024
Weekly Muck
Join the mission and subscribe to our newsletter. In exchange, we promise to fight for justice.
Weekly
Muck
Join the mission and subscribe to our newsletter. In exchange, we promise to fight for justice.
