A long-awaited external investigation into political corruption in Anaheim was released Monday, revealing a “potential criminal conspiracy” over a $1.5 million COVID-19 relief fund, the former mayor of the city and the former chairman of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. It turned out that there was a suspicion of being involved in “”. Influence peddling. ”

of 353 page report Laguna Niguel research firm JL Group detailed numerous lobbyist meetings that went unreported despite requests from the city, raising concerns about the city’s close ties to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Harry said.・He characterized former Mayor Sidhu’s distinctive Anaheim First initiative as follows: “It is nothing more than a fig leaf against potential future public corruption and misappropriation of public funds.”

The Anaheim City Council kept JL ​​Group alive last summer after a major FBI corruption probe went public. An affidavit by one of the special agents, which includes accusations against Mr. Sidhu in a number of misdemeanors related to the city’s cancellation of the sale of Angel Stadium to a company controlled by the team owner, is pulling the strings. A secretive self-proclaimed “cabal” was detailed. It is located in the most populous city in Orange County, home to Disneyland and Major League Baseball’s Angels. Although Mr. Sidu has resigned and no criminal charges have been filed, he has denied any wrongdoing.

“We must ensure that this scandal and the contents of this report lead to meaningful reform so that corruption does not take hold in City Hall again,” Anaheim Mayor Ashley Aitken said in a statement. “I am currently working with a Mayor’s Advisory Committee, comprising leaders of government, community, business and law, to thoroughly review the report and advance concrete reforms for discussion in the City Council. We are in the process of building it.”

The JL Group study (which was initially priced at $750,000 but has been doubled this year to a high of $1.5 million) does not include blockbuster reveals, but politicians, lobbyists and others The city, plagued by power brokers’ misbehavior, goes far beyond its scope. What the FBI revealed.

Perhaps the most serious suspicion is over the COVID-19 Recovery Fund. After the city council approved Sidhu’s plan to channel $6.5 million to Visit Anaheim, a nonprofit that markets the city, in March 2020, JL Group announced that $1.5 million would go to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, where he was chairman at the time. discovered that it had been diverted to another non-profit organization managed by the Office. By Todd Ament.

“We determined that there was a conspiracy between then-Mayor Sidhu Ament and Visit Anaheim CEO and President Jay Burres,” the report said. “The fact is that Mayor Sidhu at the time instructed Burles to divert $1.5 million to a non-profit organization controlled by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, and Ament told Burles, when asked about the $1.5 million, that he would not visit It indicates that I instructed them to report that it came from other reserves in Anaheim.”

“The Chamber of Commerce nonprofit that received this $1.5 million in 2020 did not list these funds on its tax returns filed in December 2022. It shows the nature and style of Ament and Mayor Sidhu’s intent to misappropriate and potentially illegally divert funds “in an inappropriate way.” ”

Ament, Barres and Sidhu did not respond to requests for comment.

JL Group representatives reportedly met with the Orange County area. Athi. Todd Spitzer and several of his staff will discuss the $1.5 million “potential criminal conspiracy and theft/misappropriation” in March.

“We are working with our team to assess the possibility of criminal activity, but there is no deadline for any decision at this time,” Spitzer said in a statement about the report.

The Anaheim City Council voted last month to release unredacted copies of the report to the state attorney general’s office and the FBI.

Ament, who pleaded guilty to four federal felony counts last year as part of full cooperation with the government, is a central figure in the JL Group report.

“Overall, it was found that Sidhu had close ties with Ament and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and engaged in actions that can only be described as spreading influence through Ament,” the report said. “Evidence pointed to the fact that anyone wishing to meet with the mayor had to first go through Ament and then pay some form of tribute in order to contact him. This could include donations to charities, participation in the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, and participation in other pet projects endorsed by then-Mayor Sidhu.”

The largest of Sidhu’s “pet projects” was Anaheim First, a nonprofit organization with a goal of investing $250 million in neighborhoods over 10 years.

“We determined that the original founding of Anaheim First was essentially a political data mining operation in which information from individuals attending community gatherings was collected and then improperly used for political purposes. did,” the report said, giving credit to Ament and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. I came up with an organization. “Additionally, there was evidence that Anaheim First was the mechanism used to freeze political minorities on the city council.”

The report relentlessly concludes about Mr. Ament and Sidhu: “All of these activities point to the fact that Mayor Sidu and Ament were cooperating in a grander scheme to spread Mayor Sidu’s influence and gain unfair wealth in the process.”

The report describes a number of situations of ethical or legal concern unrelated to Ament and Sidhu, including widespread unreported lobbying. It is In the report, prominent lobbyist Jeff Flint, whose clients include Disney and the Angels, and former Anaheim mayor Kurt Pringle, “failed to register many clients and reported numerous fraudulent meetings. By failing to do so, he likely misreported his lobbying activities.” Confirmed by calendar entries, emails, and meeting attendees. ”

The report found 38 unreported alleged lobbying meetings involving Mr. Flint and various city officials between 2019 and May 2022, when the FBI investigation became public. There was found.

Flint and Pringle did not respond to requests for comment.

All of which, the report revealed, made the city fail to function as it should.

“In summary, the greater importance of credible evidence is the authenticity of government transparency and public participation in relation to government projects and agreements on the actions of certain powerful actors in the city, including Ament, Flint and Sidhu. It shows that there was likely to have been a disdain for the “Rules and laws seem to get in the way of the desires and interests of some elites.”