With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today.
Feds Add Charges Against Former LA Deputy Mayor Ray Chan And Four Others In City Hall Corruption Case
Suspended L.A. City Councilmember José Huizar leaves federal court in downtown Los Angeles. He appeared along with federal public defenders for a trial setting hearing. (Libby Denkmann/LAist)
Federal prosecutors have added five new defendants, including a former L.A. deputy mayor and the head of a major Chinese real estate development firm, to the wide-ranging City Hall corruption case centering on former City Councilman José Huizar.
The new defendants face charges including bribery, wire fraud and soliciting campaign donations from foreign nationals.
They are:
- Raymond Chan, former head of the L.A. Department of Building and Safety and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development under Mayor Eric Garcetti.
- Wei Huang, the billionaire president of Chinese development firm Shen Zhen New World I, who planned to build a 77-story skyscraper on the site of the L.A. Grand Hotel in downtown L.A.
- Dae Yong Lee (aka “David Lee”), a developer with plans for a mixed-use building at 940 Hill Street downtown.
Lee and Huang’s companies are also named in the indictment.
Sponsored message
In a news release, U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said Huizar, Chan and others operated the “CD-14 Enterprise,” turning the city council seat “into a money-making criminal enterprise.” Huizar’s former district included downtown Los Angeles.
“Powerful developers, operating through well-connected lobbyists, eagerly participated in the schemes to get preferential treatment for their downtown projects,” Hanna said. “This detailed indictment, which lays bare these backroom deals, should prompt a serious discussion as to whether significant reforms are warranted in Los Angeles city government.”
Among the gifts that Huang allegedly provided to Huizar, with Chan acting as facilitator, were 19 all expense-paid trips to Las Vegas between 2013-17, and $600,000 in collateral to allow Huizar to secure a loan to settle a sexual harassment suit brought by a former employee in his city council office. Huizar later stopped making payments on the loan, and most of the collateral went to paying off the balance.
Huizar was arrested in June. He pleaded not guilty in August and is scheduled to face trial next year on 34 counts, including racketeering and money laundering. The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office have outlined the alleged operation through court documents, which detail a scheme by Huizar and accomplices to squeeze money out of developers and businesses in exchange for official favors such as greasing the skids for real estate projects in the city council’s powerful Planning and Land Use Management Committee, which Huizar chaired.
So far, five men have pleaded guilty to charges related to the case, including former City Councilman Mitch Englander. In October, a subsidiary of Chinese megadeveloper Shenzhen Hazens agreed to pay more than $1 million to avoid prosecution for gifts and $100,000 in illegal contributions it funneled to Huizar’s wife’s aborted campaign to succeed him on the city council.
READ THE FULL INDICTMENT:
At LAist, we focus on what matters to our community: clear, fair, and transparent reporting that helps you make decisions with confidence and keeps powerful institutions accountable.
Your support for independent local news is critical. With federal funding for public media gone, LAist faces a $1.7 million yearly shortfall. Speaking frankly, how much reader support we receive now will determine the strength of this reliable source of local information now and for years to come.
This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
That’s why we’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Thank you for understanding how essential it is to have an informed community and standing up for free press.
Your support for independent local news is critical. With federal funding for public media gone, LAist faces a $1.7 million yearly shortfall. Speaking frankly, how much reader support we receive now will determine the strength of this reliable source of local information now and for years to come.
This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
That’s why we’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Thank you for understanding how essential it is to have an informed community and standing up for free press.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
