BY SPENCER CUSTODIO AND BRANDON PHO | Voice of OC
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is calling for a 60-day pause on the Angel Stadium land sale – as the FBI is taking a hard look at Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu for public corruption allegations.
The “FBI learned that the City of Anaheim was tightly controlled by a small cadre of individuals, including SIDHU, a particular member of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, and others,” reads a Thursday affidavit from FBI agent Brian Adkins in Bonta’s court filing.
Sidhu’s attorney, Paul Meyer, declined to comment, saying it would “premature” at this stage to do so, in a Monday text message.
The news comes on the heels of an announcement by the Department of Justice naming the president and CEO of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce being named in a criminal complaint for lying to their mortgage lender. The chamber appeared to financially benefit from its strong ties to the City’s mayor. Similar to what we see in the city of Inglewood.
Inglewood and how Mayor James T. Butts controls all aspects of city government, including the Inglewood Airport Area Chamber of Commerce whose newly installed executive director who receives additional compensation from Butts’ re-election campaign committees. The previous director was subject an internal probe of the chambers finances by the members of the previous board.
The board alleged money was missing from the chamber’s accounts and the former executive director refused to turn over access to banking information. He would then be replaced by Halimah Ginyard, who has registered DBA’s with LA County purporting to be both Inglewood Today newspaper and 2UrbanGirls.
Related: Inglewood residents demand chamber of commerce director stop impersonating local businesses
It is unknown if Butts and Ginyard are defrauding the two companies of advertising and/or sponsorship opportunities due to her filings.
Read the full article on the Anaheim mayor’s woes over at VoiceofOC.org.
