Douglas R. Dowie, a leading Los Angeles public relations consultant, political fundraiser and confidant of Mayor James K. Hahn, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges that he directed a criminal conspiracy to bilk city government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Dowie, 57, of West Hills, routinely ordered subordinates at Fleishman-Hillard, an international public relations firm, to inflate the number of hours they worked under contracts with the city's Department of Water and Power and the Port of Los Angeles, as well as with two private clients, the indictment charged.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday June 04, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 36 words Type of Material: Correction
U.S. attorney -- An article in Friday's Section A about the indictment of public relations consultant Douglas R. Dowie referred to Debra Wong Yang, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, as Debra Wang.
Dowie, who became general manager of the firm's Los Angeles office in 1999, was accused along with John Stodder Jr., who oversaw the firm's public affairs practice in Los Angeles from 2002 to 2004. Both were terminated in January.
Stodder, 49, of Palos Verdes Estates, was initially indicted in January on similar charges for participating in a scheme with "others known and unknown." Thursday's superseding indictment added Dowie's name, expanded the amount allegedly stolen from $250,000 to $325,000 and included a conspiracy count against both men.
Dowie and Stodder have maintained they are innocent.
The indictments of Dowie and Stodder are the first to come from a probe into city contracting, launched amid accusations that some contracts are awarded to those who "pay to play" through campaign contributions or political fundraising.
Dowie allegedly ordered about $75,000 in false billings in 2000, before Stodder joined the firm, and combined with Stodder to order an additional $250,000 in false billings in 2002 and 2003, according to the indictment.
The indictments of Dowie and Stodder followed a Times investigation, published last July, in which seven former Fleishman-Hillard employees told the newspaper about the alleged overbilling scheme.
The mechanics of the alleged fraud were crude, as captured in e-mail exchanges set forth in the indictment.
In January 2003, the indictment charged, Dowie e-mailed Stodder to ask whether they could "pad" the monthly bill to the DWP by adding $30,000 of "ambiguous counseling for the mayor" and two other top DWP executives.
Stodder e-mailed back to say that $30,000 was "more than the system could bear" but that a subordinate and alleged co-conspirator, who was not identified in the indictment, had told him that $15,000 was doable. The subordinate said "she could 'slip though another $15k without incurring too much more scrutiny,' " Stodder wrote.
