Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, who was arrested and charged with extortion last month in an ongoing pay-per-play investigation, now faces additional charges including bribery and money laundering, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. .
The new charges were included in a 34-charge grand jury indictment that expands on previous allegations that Huizar ran a criminal company that leveraged his power in the City Hall for financial gain, helping real estate developers who handed out bribes, including cash, free flights, casino chips and other perks.
The 113-page indictment also includes claims that others conspired with Huizar in the scheme, including a former deputy mayor who previously headed the Department of Construction and Security. Federal prosecutors allege that Huizar agreed to accept at least $ 1.5 million in illicit financial benefits.
He is the fifth person to be charged in the ongoing investigation, which has generated guilty pleas from former Huizar aide George Esparza, real estate consultant George Chiang, political fundraiser Justin Jangwoo Kim, and former councilman Mitchell Englander.
The indictment alleges that Huizar attempted to cover up the illicit money in various ways, including his assistant’s guide on how to avoid bank reporting requirements and use of family members to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. He also alleges that he made false statements to federal prosecutors and the FBI.
Huizar, 51, is scheduled to be processed on Monday. Councilman’s attorneys have previously stated that Huizar “intends to respond to government charges in court.” He is now being represented by attorneys from the federal public defender’s office, one of whom declined to comment Thursday.
Many of the allegations in the indictment were revealed last month in a criminal complaint against the councilman, including that a Chinese billionaire planning a new skyscraper in his downtown district provided $ 600,000 in guarantee to help Huizar quietly settle a lawsuit against sexual harassment filed by a former assistant. .
But the document presents additional details about the alleged crimes. For example, the criminal complaint alleged that a businessman who wanted Huizar to introduce him to developers paid for gifts, including expensive suits, meals, and hotel stays for the councilman to meet with a woman he was having an affair with.
The indictment, in turn, establishes a detailed list of those alleged gifts with dates and dollar amounts, such as a “suit and shirt” worth $ 6,000 on June 13, 2016 and “hotel accommodation” worth $ 1,513.49 on June 19, 2017.
In another case, the criminal complaint filed in June included allegations that a real estate developer provided political donations as part of a bribery scheme to obtain approval for a project from the Arts District. The accusation adds another accusation: that an executive of that development company spoke with Huizar about the hiring of the councilman after he left office.
Federal prosecutors have not named the former deputy mayor allegedly involved in the criminal enterprise, but the biographical details included in the indictment and the criminal complaint make it clear that it is Raymond Chan, who has not been arrested or publicly charged in the case.
His attorney, Harland Braun, did not immediately comment Thursday, but previously stated that Chan did nothing wrong.
The charges Huizar faces carry maximum sentences that could span decades, according to a statement released by the Los Angeles attorney’s office. Money laundering, for example, can be punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, while making false statements to a financial institution carries a maximum penalty of 30 years.
